Crews are using the shoreline outside of the Central Administration Building in Road Town to store excess soil and debris washed downhill during the devastating tropical wave two weeks ago.
The project is part of recovery efforts set to continue in the city under the supervision of a task force headed by the Premier’s Office, according to Deputy Chief Official Planner Dylan Penn.
The location was designated as a staging area in case of future weather episodes that could choke strained roadways and cause more damage to buildings.
But other threats didn’t materialise over the weekend. On Friday the Department of Disaster Management advised that Invest 92L, a disturbance with the potential to become a tropical depression or storm, could have reached the islands, but the system dissipated as it passed to the north.
At the Wickhams Cay site in recent days, workers could be seen unloading mounds of loose sediment and packing it to reduce the chance of particles escaping into the air.
Mr. Penn said that the air quality along nearby Waterfront Drive — a concern to residents and business owners in the wake of the storm — has not been affected by their activity. On dry days, the Public Works Department has power washed the streets and sidewalks to tackle the dust there.
Presently, the staging area is a temporary solution. Soil has begun to discolor the water behind the Central Administration Building, but Mr. Penn spoke of potential uses for the debris bank, including abating coastal erosion by regrading vulnerable areas.
“This is a long-term, multi-agency effort in partnership with this office,” Mr. Penn said.
Chief Planner Gregory Adams, who heads the Town and Country Planning Department, recently oversaw a team of drainage and landslide experts as they returned to conduct damage assessments of locations throughout Tortola, according to a press release issued Friday.
“During this initial damage assessment, the technical experts focused on assessing damage and determining the cause at various sites on Tortola,” Mr. Adams said. “Teams will visit the sites to characterise the damage and make recommendations for rehabilitation, mitigation and for future planning considerations.”
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