EV301 Assignment 1 – S11199722 Ankit Nadan

EIA – PERSONAL REFLECTION AND CURRENT EVENTS

This assignment will describe a project and discuss the impacts, both negative and positive it has on the localities/
communities where the project took place. The project being discussed is the newly constructed Waidamu Bridge
which is at the far end of Vuci Road in Nausori. It is located exactly at the exits or junction of the Korociriciri
and Vusuya road. The project was funded by the Fiji government which was around $4m FJD and was officially
opened on 15th March, 2021 [1]. The proponent for this project was Fletcher Building (Fiji) Limited. The project
has been completed in 2021. The was no information found on EIA regarding this project. However, according
to the screening process in Fiji. There should have been an EIA carried out, according to ‘Schedule 2’, ‘Part 1;
(b), (j), (r) and (w)’.

With any project or development comes impacts which maybe negative or positive. Some of the positive impacts
of the project described above include, firstly, the travel time has decreased by a large factor which is due to the
increase in traffic flow, before the construction of the new bridge, only one vehicle could pass through, but the
new bridge has enabled vehicles to go both ways. Secondly, the new bridge is much safer in terms of its structure
and mechanical properties such as strength and weight capacity, the old bridge was built in the late 1990s to early
2000s, thus, the structure and mechanical properties had worn out which made it unsafe for use. Lastly, the new
bridge also constitutes of a pedestrian walkway/footpath which has enabled the people to cross safely across the
bridge which was not possible before. The negative impacts on the other hand include, firstly, due to the two way
upgrade, drivers have been driving carelessly, that is, passing the bridge at high speeds, also, not following the
appropriate road rules which include giving turns to the vehicles approaching from your right hand side or
following give way signs. Secondly, the Waidamu river has recorded higher levels of flooding after rainfall. This
is caused by the decrease in the size of the bridges width, that is, compared to the old bridge, the width was large
which enabled an increased water discharge rate, the new bridge however due to the decreased width disables
that. The magnitude of the impact is high as many locals are affected from the floods, that is, farms along the
riverbed get flooded rapidly and their crops and produce get damaged. Also, the access to roads is cut off due to
the flood waters, vehicles are not able to pass through and locals are not able to go to work, school etcetera.

The design of the project could be modified to reduce the negative impacts in few ways which include firstly,
building speed bumps, speed cameras and more visible road signs which would decrease careless driving.
Secondly, the bridge could have been designed a bit wider than it is now or similar to the older one, this would
increase the water discharge rate and reduce flooding the locality.

References

[1] K. Sovasiga, "Fiji Sun," 15 March 2021. [Online]. Available: https://fijisun.com.fj/2021/03/16/pm-5000-gain-

access-through-4m-bridge-part-of-resilient-network/. [Accessed 19 March 2023].