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US$6M to repair Demerara Harbour Bridge
Kaieteur News – The ongoing rehabilitation works for spans nine and 10 of the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) is being done at a cost of $1.2 billion (US$6M).This is according to General Manager of the Bridge, Wayne Watson, who made the disclosure during a recent Ministry of Public Works press conference.
The Demerara Harbour Bridge.
Early last year, the company Industrial Fabrication (INFAB) was awarded the contract to replace and repair the damaged retractor spans which is the most critical section of the bridge, which absorbs “the most wear and tear.” The DHB in a release had noted that the objective of the rehabilitation project is to restore the retractors spans by eliminating the existing structural deficiencies and reconstruct retractor span nine so as to improve the bridge’s condition, geometrics, safety, and load-carrying capacity.
The works, which began in November last year were scheduled to be completed in December but that timeline has since moved to April this year.
“The total cost for rehabilitation of span nine and 10 and the replacement of span nine is approximately $1.2 billion. We were scheduled to finish the project by December 2021, but because of consideration for users of the bridge, we are now projecting somewhere between April,” Watson explained.
He noted that in order to complete the works on the bridge, there will be more bridge closures scheduled. According to Watson, for this project, 16 six-hour closures have been scheduled to facilitate the works and to date, they have only completed five.
The 44-year-old bridge, which has already outlived its lifespan, will be replaced with the construction of a new US$257 million bridge, which will be constructed by China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited.
With the new bridge expected to be completed in the next two years, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill stated that the current bridge will not be “an old iron pushed in a corner. It will be properly used for the development of Guyana.”
Edghill added that there are many places where sections of the bridge can be used. “It could be used in the Kwakwani crossing, it could be used in several parts of the hinterland, maybe some of it could be used at Kurupukari but we are looking at more permanent infrastructure for the Linden to Lethem road. So we might be looking at a more permanent concrete structure across the Kurupukari but maybe it could link Leguan and Wakenaam,” the Minister said.
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