Demerara Harbour Bridge rehabilitation ahead of schedule
REHABILITATION works being undertaken, currently, on the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) are progressing successfully and the contractors are ahead of schedule, General Manager Rawlston Adams said. According to him, they should be finished before the scheduled date of May 5.
Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle yesterday morning, Mr. Adams reported that, already, work has been completed on the eastern half of the structure.
“That work started on April 29 and we expect it to be finished by May 5. Hopefully, we should be done a little before as, basically, we did not anticipate being ahead of the game at this time today,” he admitted.
Adams said the authorities are pleased with how the contractors are working and noted that, because the workers have been on top of the undertaking, both lanes on the bridge were opened to vehicular traffic despite the slow pace movement.
“We are pleased to say that, yesterday, we were able to complete half of the eastern section, enabling us to open the bridge, this morning, to two-lane traffic, so we expect to complete the second half of the eastern end by the end of this afternoon and have two lanes for commuters going home this afternoon and tomorrow morning,” he stated.
Adams said, today, works will include the installation of beams on the same section and then, immediately after, work on the western half of the bridge would commence, once everything goes as planned.
Work is also to be done on the western hydraulic ramp, he said, explaining that, initially, the schedule indicated the completion of one ramp within a six-day timeframe. However, since contractors are ahead, both of the ramps will be completed in the same period.
Adams said the last time such maintenance was conducted on the DHB ramps was some 15 years ago and, while it has been affecting the public and posing a setback for many persons, this rehabilitation is very much necessary,  bearing in mind the safety of users.
He said commuters were adequately informed through the various media, starting about a month ago.
“We had text messages sent out through GT&T and we have had this in all the daily newspapers and I think we did a good job in informing the public before the activity,” Adams pointed out.
He acknowledged there were a few challenges but asked that commuters bear with management during this period of rehabilitation.
“We have had some amount of delays but we are asking people to bear with us and adhere to all the instructions given, so that we can get this important work completed within the time,” Adams said.