Eight firms bid to supervise construction of new Demerara River Bridge

Mar 24, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – With the contract for the new Demerara River Bridge still to be signed, eight consultancy firms have applied to supervise the construction of the Nandy Park to La Grange Bridge. This is was revealed on Tuesday when the tenders were opened at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPATB) office.

An artist impression of new Demerara River Bridge.

At the opening, the companies who submitted proposals for the Ministry of Public Works project were Fig Bridge Inspection Inc in association with E & A Consultant; Rights Limit Lead Firm in association with CB Associates Inc.; Dyrock Acuitas Consortium; WSP Del Istmo; Engenhaira e Consultoria LTDA in association with SRKN’gineering & Associates Limited; Politencia in association with SRKN’gineering; RADISE International in association with Caribbean Engineering & Management Consult Inc.; and Varya Enterprise Limited in association with BCC Engineering LLC.
Earlier in the year, when the Public Works Ministry had issued its public tender it stated that the main objective of this consultancy is for the consultant to assist the ministry in the design review, construction supervision and general project management of the construction of the New Demerara Harbour River Bridge and contract administration throughout the project implementation process and thereafter during the defects liability period.
The particulars of the notice further noted that the estimated duration of the project is 24 months from the date of contract signing and at least 12 months thereafter for defects liability from a date to be determined. The ministry added that consultants will be selected in accordance with the policies and procedures set out by the National Procurement Act 2003.
It should be noted that the new bridge aims to replace the aging Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) with a modern four-lane structure that will facilitate greater traffic capacity and dramatically improve commuter convenience. The bridge which is commonly referred to as a “flyover bridge” is set to be built with the lifespan of 50 years and will not require opening or retraction to allow for maritime.
Kaieteur News had reported that the contract for the new DHB was first awarded to China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited last year to the tune of $53.7B.
Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo announced earlier in February, during an interview with a foreign media house that the contract was pulled from that firm as the cost of financing was too high. During the interview, the Vice President said, “we have just terminated the negotiations with them (CSCEC) because the cost of financing is too high.”The Chinese firm had secured the contract to build the new bridge under a Design-Build-Finance (DBF) model. Following that announcement the government is now in talks with the second ranked bidder for the project, which is China Railway Construction Corporation International Limited in joint venture with China Railway Caribbean Company Limited; and China Railway Engineering Bureau Group Company Limited.
During the reading of the Budget 2022, Senior Minister with responsibility with Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh had announced that this year, some $21.1B has been allocated for the project. A perusal of the profile page of the project that falls under the Ministry shows however that the financing is not external but rather is being funded by central government.