Building materials intended to fix the St George’s swing bridge have rusted after sitting outside for five months, The Royal Gazette has discovered.

Dennis Lister, the Shadow Minister of Public Works, called the matter “symptomatic of the Government’s approach to repairing our infrastructure”.

In January, a section of Kindley Field Park was set aside as a storage area for a Bailey bridge being constructed for the swing bridge across Ferry Reach, which is badly damaged by rust.

But since then the materials have remained seemingly untouched while being exposed to the elements.

Mr Lister told this newspaper: “One would think that once you’ve acquired the building materials, the next step is to make the installation and repairs. They were raced down there and now they’re sitting there rusting. If the materials have deteriorated enough that they can’t be used, then it will obviously be a waste of money.”

The bridge — which links St David’s to St George’s — has been closed since April 2014, allowing motorists across but not opening for ships attempting to pass through.

Last December, traffic was reduced to a single lane and a weight limit of ten tonnes was put in place after an engineering survey.

The Minister of Public Works, Craig Cannonier, said the bridge had become “seriously structurally compromised” and that some supports were so corroded they would “crumble away” when touched.

In January, as Bermuda Government engineers awaited structural reports, Mr Cannonier insisted that the bridge was safe for single-lane traffic, despite its rusting traverse beams.

He added that the matter was a “Government priority” and that a Bailey bridge would be erected over the structure while work was carried out.

February’s 2016-17 Budget statement revealed that $20 million was being set aside to restore the bridge.

In late March, the Ministry of Public Works performed a structural inspection of the bridge, swinging it open twice for testing purposes.

A fortnight later, the Government put out a request for proposal for repairs — calling on tenders by April 22 for “installation of interim repair measures” at the bridge in a Royal Gazette notice.

The notice added: “The project involves the procurement and fabrication of structural steel elements and their installation to the underside of the Swing Bridge Bridge Deck in St George’s.”

In mid-April, the plan to erect a Bailey bridge was abandoned in favour of strengthening the bridge from below, with Mr Cannonier citing concerns over traffic build-up and emergency vehicle access.

At the time, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Public Works said work on a full-scale remediation for the bridge had already begun. The Ministry of Public Works did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.

• Greenrock: We risk infrastructure collapse