Italian firm to supervise construction of new Demerara River Bridge, works yet to start

Feb 02, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – As works on the new Demerara River Bridge (DRB) is yet to start, it was revealed on Tuesday that an Italian consultancy firm, Politenica would be supervising the project.

This is according to Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill who on Tuesday was asked on the status of the project on day two of the consideration of the estimates of Budget 2023.

Posing the question to the Minister was Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), David Patterson who asked that the Minister state the percentage of works completed, having paid some $22 billion on the project last year.

A 3D model of the new Demerara Harbour Bridge which was released last year.

“If this sum budgeted for 2023, includes anything for land acquisition cost. Has the contractor submitted any geotechnical or any design reports, if so has this been approved?  Has the commencement order for the project been issued and if so on what date?” Patterson asked.

Responding to the question, Minister Edghill said that the project which was signed last year May; it was just recently they received in country, the supervisory firm that would be supervising this design, build project.

“That supervisory firm took effect I think from the 15 of January 2023, and they are in their mobilization stage. The contractor is required to submit all the things the Honourable member was asking to the supervisory firm, so that they can review them and approve them so that we can actually have approvals for the construction, the Minister would not approve design, geotechnical and other technical things,” the Minister explained.

The supervisory firm he announced is Politecnica from Italy who won the bid for the contract.

“Just last Friday, an engagement was held with the contractor and the supervisory firm and my project team and we will be able to keep the nation updated in another couple of weeks about the various stages of where the bridge will be,” he noted.

Meanwhile, as it relates to the land acquisition for the project, Minister Edghill disclosed on Tuesday that “The Ministry of Housing has successfully negotiated and handled all of the properties that are in the path of the bridge and we have no resistance from anyone not wanting to move, so I would like to report that to the house.”

However, he noted that the commencement order has not been issued because they are still finalizing arrangement between the supervisory firm and the contractor, but some preliminary work has started at the site.

The US$260 million project was awarded to China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and its partners, China Railway Caribbean Company Limited and China Railway Engineering Bureau Group Company Limited.

It was reported that the new bridge which is slated to be completed in 24 months is said to have a life span of 100 years. Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar at the contract signing ceremony had stated that the length of the bridge is 2.65km and the width of the driving surface is 23.6 meters which is around 77.8 ft. He noted that the bridge is a hybrid design at the navigation span which is also called the high span.

The vertical height at this span he said is around 50 meters from the main highest watermark. “That means that a vessel maybe a handymax size vessel can pass freely under the bridge. So that is the kind of traffic that we are accommodating. There are cycle lanes on the bridge and the width of the high span is about 210 meters,” he explained.

The New River Bridge aims to replace the aging Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB). Kaieteur News had reported that the contract for the new river bridge was first given to China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited in 2021 to the tune of US$256.6 million.

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo announced last year 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. However, according to information provided in the National Estimates of 2022, the financing of the bridge is not external but rather is being funded by central government. During the reading of the Budget 2022, Senior Minister with responsibility with Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh had announced that some $21.1B was allocated for the project.

This year, the government has allocated an additional $5.2 billion for the new river crossing.

• Bridge, Demerara River, Italian firm, Juan Edghill, Minister of Public Works