The bridge linking the communities of Jrarat, Araks, Haykashen, Verin Khatunarkh and Gai to the highway leading to Yerevan is getting more dangerous to traverse with each passing day. It's been four years now since the bridge's cement pilings and walls have started to crumble away into the creek below. Driver Mkrtich Asatryan, who crossing the bridge daily for work, says, "Every time I use the bridge I make the sign of the cross to get over to the other side in one piece. No one cares that the bridge is falling to pieces. They are waiting for an accident to occur and for people to suffer before anything gets done." Residents who fear using the bridge must make a ten kilometer detour through Etchmiadzin to get their produce to the Yerevan markets. Gai village mayor Seyran Markosyan says, "That's why many villagers refuse to take their produce to Yerevan. People come here to buy the produce for resale in the city."Since taking over the post one year ago he's already petitioned the Armavir Regional Administrator twice to make repairs to the bridge; a lifeline for local residents. "The RA's Department of Construction came up with a plan to repair the bridge at a cost of 7 million AMD. But the Ministry of Territorial Administration turned it down, arguing that such an amount is out of the question due to the financial crisis," Mayor Markosyan stated. Seeing that the state government wasn't interested in solving the problem, the mayor had four dump trucks deliver dirt to fill in some of the roadway holes. He confessed that it was a temporary stop gap measure but that it lessened the probability that cars crossing the bridge might fall through the crumbling roadway. Gai City Council member Faizo Avdoyan lays the blame on the heavy truck traffic using the bridge to transport sand and stone from local mines. Driver Gagik Petrsoyan echoes his sentiments. "When those 40 ton trucks cross, the bridge shakes something fierce. The bridge was built back in the Soviet era when traffic was much less. Accidents are a weekly occurrence here now. They should reinforce the bridge every 10-15 years and maybe widen the roadway."