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800m of sea wall temporarily heightened to date
About 800 metres of the Georgetown sea wall has been temporarily heightened by two-feet to date. This is part of Public Works Ministry’s efforts to prevent the recurrence of severe overtopping, like that experienced on April 28 and 29.
This is according to Kevin Samad, Chief Sea and River Defence Officer, who provided an update about the department’s efforts in securing Guyana’s susceptible coastline.
Kevin Samad, Chief Sea and River Defence Officer
Talking about the events surrounding the overtopping that flooded communities within the vicinity of Sheriff Street on the aforementioned dates, he said the Ministry looked at a number of designs and solutions and came up with the temporary placement of moulds.
Samad explained that the overtopping was triggered mainly from the low foreshore condition, which had reached an unprecedented level allowing large waves to reach the wall, elevate to a certain height, and overtopped when collapsed.
“We had examined the entire area stretching back as far as Better Hope and we were aware that the mud bank was moving down. The mud bank would have a head and tail and the head mud bank is at the Liliendaal pump”, he stated.
According to Samad, the mud bank is a big factor in designing coastal structures. He related that when the mud reaches the area where the overtopping had occurred the wave actions would change since it would dampen the waves.
“Once you have mud in the system the wave does not come with that intensity it breaks the waves. That is the main factor why we resort to heightening that crest,” he said.
Clarifying misconceptions that the project is designed to break waves and is permanent, Samad said the structure is designed to mitigate overtopping and is temporary. He was however quick to note that because of the creases between the moulds, water could seep through.
“We had reviewed the videos and analysed the stuff and done some hydraulic analysis, too. It has showed that once we heightened, it would reduce overtopping. Because what we found is that the waves were breaking before, but when the waves collapsed then we were getting the flooding.”
He said that every engineering design and solution cost is always an important factor in projects of this kind. Justifying why the Ministry chose this design, Samad enlightened that there were options such as placing boulders in front of the wall, but consideration was given to the movement of the mud bank.
Samad said placing the boulders would have been more costly, especially since the return of the mud bank in the eroded area is imminent. He added that if the Ministry was to use rip-rap technology, it would cost about US$2,500 per metre. However, he could not at the time disclose the final figure of the ongoing project.
He noted that the labour aspect is being done by the Ministry’s Force Account Unit. The Ministry’s staff had started out mixing its own cement, but the pace was too slow. As such, the cement mix is now being purchased from private companies. A contractor has been hired to supply the moulds or forms for the one-kilometre stretch of sea wall.
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