Can A French Drain Save Beaver Dam?
When we left you last night, the Cayo District was an island, cut off from Central Belize after the approach to the Beaver Dam Bridge was washed out, and cut off form the south due to multiple flooding events on the Hummingbird. Well, much to the relief of dozens of commuters and busloads of westbound travelers, the Western Highway was reopened at about 10:00 last night. This afternoon we caught up with Ministry of Works engineer Lennox Bradley and Zone Engineer Irving Thimbrel for a recap of what they're calling an extreme event that crippled one of Belize's major roadways. This was the scene today as rush hour traffic moved across the one-lane makeshift crossing leading to the Beaver Dam Bridge. It's an uneasy balance, rock and rushing waters, and it's being maintained by constant vigilance with the hope that it will hold for as long as it's needed. This afternoon we made the crossing to travel to Belmopan where the Ministry of Works chief engineer told us how we got here:

Cops Controlling Commuters, Swimmers And Paparazzi
And while Bradley and Thimbrel may be the heroes of the hour, they are singing the praises of the police without whom they could never have worked so quickly. Yesterday at the scene, we heard from Western Regional commander Linden Flowers who spent the day on the road putting limits on commuters, swimmers and paparazzi. "The police role is to preserve law and order and preservation of property that's what we're doing out here this morning is to ensure that no citizen is harmed in this situation that arose where the road collapsed. Our patrols were here very early this morning because we had the experience of the night rain so Roaring Creek police responded."

Roadways Turned Into Riverways
That Police presence was needed throughout the flood zones where frustration was high and traffic was extremely slow. And in our conversation with the Ministry's zone engineer, we got an overview of yesterday's desperate situation across the George Price, Hummingbird, and Coastal Highways. Irving Thimbrel, Senior Executive Engineer, Central Zone Engineer, MOW: "Spanish Lookout is because of the swelling of the river. That bridge was built as a bridge that can function even though water go over it. It's not something that we want to encourage, but it was design that way and I think it was done in collaboration with the Mennonite community, so I think it was a project that brought together the Mennonite community and the ministry of works. So from time to time that bridge would flood, but we have 2 bridges, up and down stream that will allow people to still access the Spanish Lookout area. We have the Pino Cawich bridge in Roaring Creek and we have the bridge at Bullet Tree Falls, so when we had that 100 year flood some years ago, people were still able to access Spanish Lookout..."

A River Runs Through It - Every 20 Years
Now, as you heard, the engineers don't know if this is a one in 25 year flood, or a one in 100 year flood - or something in-between. Well, how about, one in 18 years? Our archive shows that the last time the bridge washed away was on June 21, 2002 - and, almost exactly eighteen years later, the approach washed away on Thursday 18th June, 2020. After that epic washout, a completely new, 200 foot bridge was installed in September, 2003. It was designed and built here in Belize at a cost of 2.4 million dollars, and, at the time they said, it was designed to last a century. The quote from the then engineer was that it was "designed to be above the highest recorded flood level..." And the bridge does remain intact, and the eastern approach is what was undermined in Thursday's floods.

BDF Boat Unit Saves Stranded On Sibun
And the floodwaters didn't only undermine the approach to the bridge, they also caused server flooding in nearby communities, extending from Frank's Eddy to Belmopan. Franks Eddy is where the BDF's Special Boat Unit was deployed today on a search and rescue mission. They had to rescue tow civilians who were stranded across the flooded Sibun River. Across turbid waters with strong currents, the rescue went seamlessly and the SBU personnel brought the stranded men safe to shore.