US$6.6M Black Bush Polder Road project

Nov 24, 2012 News

Remedial works being executed on newly completed roadway- Regional Chairman

Minor remedial works are being executed on the recently completed US$5.5M Black Bush Polder Road by the contractor, BK International. The entire project which includes the erection of bridges and installation of culverts costs US$6.6M.
According to Region Six Chairman, David Armogan, remedial works are being executed in the liability defects period. He assured that the contractor will not be paid in full until the remedial works are done.

Section of the recently completed Black Bush Polder Road

“BK International has some remedial works to do already on the newly- built sections of the farm-to-market road. I have noticed him squaring up some of the parts of the roads that were damaged as a result of mud piling up—and maybe a little bit of poor work in some of the areas, but he [BK] is working on that to make sure all is well before the end of the year. The contractor will not be paid for the road until the remedial works are done,” Armogan stressed.
Meanwhile, two remaining concrete bridges being constructed under the project are expected to conclude by December 15th, almost one month after the 34.5 kilometers of roadway was completed. The structures are said to be 50 percent completed.
The project experienced several extensions with the most recent being in April 2012 when President Donald Ramotar, Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn inspected works.
BK International was able to conclude construction of the US$5.5M roadway; erection of five of the seven concrete bridges and two wooden bridges; and the installation of 50 pipe culverts on November 13.
Apparently, the two concrete bridges that are now being constructed were not in the original design.
According to Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Juan Edghill, who recently visited Berbice, information from his technical team, consultants and engineers, “the road would have passed the various tests – the bitumen tests- minor corrective works have been identified to the contractor.”
An Engineer of the Public Works Ministry said that the scope of the works involved building the roadway 20 feet wide with 12 inches of thickness of recycled road material without cement and six inches of stabilizing material.
In addition, the roadway has close to two inches of asphalted concrete surface.
According to the Engineer, the cost for the construction of the roadway was reduced, because for the first time the Ministry recycled road materials. It was explained that traditionally, the Ministry would not re-use road materials.
The Engineer said that the average cost to construct one kilometer of roadway using the traditional method is US$300,000. But, using recycled materials saw the Ministry enjoying a 25 per cent reduction in cost.
In relation to the construction of the concrete bridges the Engineer said that the contractor built the structures with timber beams and concrete decking. However, the two bridges that are now being constructed would have steel beams with concrete decking.
The road was constructed for farm to market purposes and according to Edghill he is displeased with the weight being transported on the structure.
“What we have observed is that the trucks operating in the polder, mainly single-axle trucks which, all of them which I have seen, carried with them, extension in the trays and that would have meant they are carrying greater weight than they were supposed to be carrying,” he said.
He added, “Double axle tonnage in a single axle truck could pose weight problems for the road. The engineers he said, informed him that the road has been designed for 32-ton trucks, and so, we want to find a solution for that, not make a demand…We need to talk to the people if we want to have long life for the road.”

INSPECTIONS TO ENSURE VALUE FOR MONEY
According to the Regional Chairman, 60 percent of road works in Berbice have been inspected by his administration and “we have gone through and measured all the roads and we are paying to measure the works.”
In some cases where the contractors were mandated to do 700 feet of roadway, inspections by Armogan and his team revealed that only 600 feet were done. “So there is no question of overpaying people for work that was not done and we are measuring all the works and paying for measuring the works,” he said.
The majority of contractors, he said, are up to standard but there are a few whose “works are substandard and we have asked them to remedy those works before we make any payments.”
He noted that the Manchester-Lancaster Corentyne areas were inspected recently “and we have seen that the layer of crusher-run that was supposed to be placed on that road, did not have that amount, so we asked the contractor to go back and remedy the work, or he will not be paid.”