Ongoing works on damaged Demerara Harbour Bridge inspected by President Ali

Ongoing repair works on the Demerara Harbour Bridge, was visited and inspected by President Irfaan Ali on Sunday afternoon, which sustained extensive structural damage following impact from a fuel tanker on Saturday morning.

It was noted that Ali was updated on the progress of reparative works by the engineering team, who assured that the bridge will be open to light traffic by Monday evening. The engineer attached to Industrial Fabrications Inc (InFab), Gerry ‘Max’ Gouveia informed the President that a plan is currently in place to ensure that the bridge can accommodate the light traffic, however much more work is still needed given the extent of the damage.

“From the impact of the vessel what we’re having is major alignment issues with both span nine and span ten, at this point in time what we’re trying to do is get everything into align and close the bridge up, but there is still a lot of issues just from the impact,” Gouveia told the President.

Meanwhile, General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation, Wayne Watson, in giving an update, pointed out that from the preliminary assessment of the damage, he is confident that once the spans are fixed, the bridge can be open to light traffic.

The President commended the team for the prompt response and for working assiduously “around the clock” to conduct the repairs on the bridge.

“We also have to relook now at the guidelines because we have bigger ships coming in, we have faster vessels and the bridge really is being nursed along at this stage in the bridge life and we can’t, every time there is an impact… in fact this is the worst impact we’ve ever had and when this happens, it adds to the fragility of the bridge,” Ali pointed out.

Further, he noted that while repairs are being conducted on the DHB, works on the new river crossing will be expedited.

It was disclosed that the Public Works Ministry back in May signed a $52B GUY (US$260 million) contract for the construction of the long-awaited new Demerara River Crossing.

It was noted that the move falls into the government’s plans to expand and modernise Guyana’s transport infrastructure, and significantly reduce the incessant traffic woes on the East Bank of Demerara.

Further, the project, which has been long in the making was awarded to China Railway Construction Corporation Limited. It has begun and will be completed within two years. The hybrid designed bridge will feature a modern four-lane structure (two carriageways), cycle lane, with a 2.65 kilometres length, driving surface of about 23.6 metres or 77.8 feet, with a lifespan of some 100 years.