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Govt. to spend $750M to repair 30 pontoons on DHB
The current Demerara Harbour Bridge.
Kaieteur News – The government through the Ministry of Public Works would be spending approximately $750 million this year to rehabilitate 30 pontoons on the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB).
This is accoring to an invitation for bids (IFB) issued by the ministry for contractors to execute the projects. According to the IFB, the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) would be rehabilitating 28 regular pontoons which are estimated to cost $639,329,431, and rehabilitating two extra large pontoons which are estimated to cost $111,377,810.
Kaieteur News understands that the move to have the pontoons repaired is to ensure safety of the 45-year-old floating bridge.
Speaking with Kaieteur News on Friday, General Manager of the DHBC, Wayne Watson said that these pontoons are the only set left to be rehabilitated
“After a period you have install a new pontoon, you have to rehabilitate those pontoons they have a lifecycle. So for the last three years we have been rehabilitating pontoons, so these are the remainder of the set that would have passed that rehabilitation period,” he briefly explained.
He noted that these have to be repaired so as to ensure safety for commuters on the bridge. When asked if these rehabilitation works on the pontoons would affect the flow of traffic on the bridge, the General Manager assured that this would not be the case. He related that when the pontoons go for repairs, temporary ones would be installed and the cycle would continue until all are repaired.
This publication understands that apart from other structural works, there would also be the replacement of 20 anodes per pontoon.
At his yearend press conference in December, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill had stated that in 2023, the DHB would have rehabilitated some 56 pontoons. Watson related that each year they would try to repair 25 to 30 pontoons, and the set that are out to tender now would be the last to be rehabilitated.
He said also that the DHB’s 2024 budget is expected to last for the life or operation of the bridge, which would see them carrying out maintenance time to time on the carriage of the bridge.
This year, the DHBC was allocated $935 million for rehabilitative works on the bridge.
The floating bridge would soon be replaced by the new Demerara River Bridge which is currently under construction.
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