First stage of $146.3M Demerara River crossing feasibility study completed

Mar 16, 2017 News

In photo, Mol (second from right) highlights location information to Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson (second left), Ministerial Advisor, Kenneth Jordan (right), and DHBC General Manager, Rawlston Adams

The first stage of the $146.3M feasibility study for the new Demerara River Crossing has been completed and some of the findings were presented to the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, yesterday.

The study is expected to conclude in July this year.

The Minister along with a team from the Ministry, and General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC), Rawlston Adams, met yesterday with Lievense CSO to discuss the feasibility study for the new Demerara River crossing.

Arie Mol of the Dutch company led a presentation of the concluded first phase, which commenced on January 15, 2017.

In his presentation, Mol touched on a number of points, including river/marine traffic, river modelling, and economic and environmental considerations.

He also highlighted a number of possible locations for the new River Crossing, including New Hope, Peter’s Hall, Eccles, and Houston, with lengths ranging from approximately 580 metres to just under 2,000 metres.

The Ministry’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Desilon Daniels, told Kaieteur News yesterday that a more detailed presentation of the phase is expected to be made at a later date. Draft reports will be made to Cabinet where the possibility exists that changes will be made.

After that process is completed, the study will be open for consultations. This will be done by the second week of April.

Lievense CSO has been is Guyana since January consulting with members of the private sector, Government agencies and manufacturing companies to discuss the construction of the new crossing.

The completed study will determine, among other things, the cost to construct the crossing, the type of crossing that should be constructed and the location of the structure.

A pre-feasibility study, which was conducted under the People’s Progressive Party Civic Government, concluded that a high-level fixed bridge was the best option to be pursued. This feasibility study will either confirm or contradict whether this is the case.

The Coalition Government is currently examining the possibility of building the crossing using the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
It has been pointed out, too, that Lievense CSO will also be assisting in suggesting financing options for the new crossing, which could even end up costing the country more than US$250M.

Meanwhile, the 38-year-old Demerara Harbour Bridge is struggling to handle the volume of traffic, which is sometimes recorded at more 18,000 crossings daily.
Despite two or more retractions every day, the traffic congestion at the existing structure is a constant bother to residents on both sides of the Demerara River, especially with the rapidly expanding La Parfaite Harmonie and Tuschen Housing Schemes.

Additionally, the aging structure is the main link to the Essequibo Coast from the city.

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