A US$260M contract for the construction of a new Demerara River Bridge was signed today with China Railway Construction Company Limited, the firm that will be building this modern piece of infrastructure.
Works are expected to start immediately and will run for two years.
The contract was awarded based on a Design-Build-Finance (DBF) model with financial terms and conditions which would be no less favourable than those submitted in the preferred bidder’s price proposals.
Delivering remarks at the contract signing, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill described the event as “monumental”.
“There are going to be some inconveniences on the land side as well as well in the river, perhaps even in the air over the next two years, as piles are driven on the land and in the water or as sand is transported to the worksite or as the towers are constructed to connect the cable section of the bridge, but at the end of the inconvenience, we will have achieved monumental progress and development.”
Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Guo Haiyan, in her remarks, spoke of the benefits this new piece of infrastructure will bring to citizens.
“This new bridge will effectively promote the flow of people and logistics on both sides of the river, save economic and time cost of transportation and promote regional development. We expect that through working hand and hand by all parties, the project will be smoothly promoted and completed with high quality as planned.”
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh added that “we will work diligently to seek to alleviate every source of inconvenience and hardship that you’ve endured over the years because our duty is to ensure that we make life better for all Guyanese and that is our commitment.”
The new bridge will offer easy connectivity to both the existing East Bank Demerara (EBD) road as well as the new Diamond-to-Ogle bypass road on the eastern side of the river and to the existing West Bank Demerara road and the new Parika-to-Schoonord road on the western side of the river.
The new bridge will also offer critical connectivity to the new Wales Development Authority, which will be a major centre of productive activity when it comes onstream. This new bridge across the Demerara River will be a high-fixed span one with a 50-metre flyover at minimum or “as high as, or higher than, the Marriott Hotel” to allow for marine vessels to pass without any interruption to vehicular traffic.
The bridge would land aback Nandy Park on the EBD and at La Grange, West Bank Demerara, from where an alternative highway would be constructed all the way to Parika, East Bank Essequibo.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already waived the requirements for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the new Demerara River bridge – a process that followed the EPA Act and also its authorisation process.
Floating at 1.25 miles, the current Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) is a strategic link between the East and West Banks of Demerara, facilitating the daily movement of thousands of vehicles, people, and cargo.
