Skip to main content

Lativa shuts down Riga’s Deglava Bridge amid safety concerns

Latvia’s interior affairs minister Sandis Ģirģens has ordered the closure of Deglava Bridge from today, 25 April, declaring is a safety risk. “I believe there are enough factors to conclude this bridge puts people’s lives at risk,” said Ģirģens, as reported by national media. If the city doesn’t close the bridge today, Ģirģens said the national State Police will. Latvia's State Construction Control Bureau last week ordered the closure of the bridge after inspectors found that the bridge's supportin
April 23, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Latvia’s interior affairs minister Sandis Ģirģens has ordered the closure of Deglava Bridge from today, 25 April, declaring is a safety risk.

“I believe there are enough factors to conclude this bridge puts people’s lives at risk,” said Ģirģens, as reported by national media.

If the city doesn’t close the bridge today, Ģirģens said the national State Police will.

Latvia's State Construction Control Bureau last week ordered the closure of the bridge after inspectors found that the bridge's supporting structures were damaged. The reconstruction project does not include works to repair the damages in full, according to the media.

The bureau has been putting pressure on the city council to explain why the bridge had not previously been closed due to what they said were safety issues.

The city, however, has reduce the vehicle weight limit to 30 tonnes on the four-lane overpass.

Related Content

  • Kenya port suspension bridge project makes progress
    January 15, 2019
    A new suspension bridge in Kenya’s key port city, Mombasa, will help unlock potential – Shem Oirere reports Plans for the construction of a US$200 million suspension bridge in Kenya heva moved a notch higher. The country's urban roads agency recently announced the shortlisting of three bidders for the design, finance, construct, operate, maintain and transfer public private partnership (PPP) contract model. Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) is a state agency that manages, develops, rehabilitates and mai
  • UK’s embarrassing road conditions
    January 17, 2025
    The UK’s roads are a national embarrassment.
  • US road safety record
    April 26, 2012
    The latest official statistics from the US on road accidents show that fatality levels on the nation's roads have dropped to the lowest figures seen for more than six decades. The information was released by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, revealing that highway deaths fell to 32,885 for 2010, the lowest level since 1949.
  • England’s new Sunderland Bridge renamed Northern Spire
    December 12, 2017
    The new Sunderland Bridge - on track to open in the spring - was officially named Northern Spire during a recent event on the bridge. The official naming followed a week-long public vote in which 10,000 people chose their favourite name from an official list of three names. Northern Spire received almost half of the votes, according to bridge officials. The other names were Lumen Point (34% of votes) and The Prism which received 17%. The two-span cable-stayed bridge across the River Wear in northeast