–Private Sector commission says

THE government’s investment in a new bridge across the Demerara River, when calculated in terms of its “cost benefits” to the country, is enormous, according to the Private Sector Commission (PSC).
A contract valuing US$260 million was signed recently by the government and a joint venture of Chinese companies led by China Railway Construction Corporation for the construction of the new bridge.
“This is an extremely important infrastructure project serving more than 50 per cent of the country’s population traversing between Regions Three and Four on a daily basis,” the PSC said in a statement which was released on Friday.

To properly underscore the benefits to be derived from this initiative, the commission created a scenario which examined traffic across the bridge.
The PSC said, taking into consideration that, conservatively, 12,000 vehicles traverse the bridge on a daily basis, with an average number of persons per vehicle being five, with the current traffic situation, commuters lose approximately two – four hours per day in traffic alone, there would be a loss of about 43.8 million productive hours or the equivalent of five years’ loss of productive hours.
“The traffic congestion problem started to worsen about five years ago, so imagine then the loss in productive hours, collectively, over the five-year period,” the commission related.
By using per capita income of US$5,000 to arrive at an average hourly rate of US$10, the PSC determined that there would be a loss of US$2.2 billion in productive time over this five-year period – equivalent to almost 50 per cent of pre-oil Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – that is, the cost of not having this new bridge in place.
It was reported that the new bridge is expected to be 2.65 kilometres long, with the width of the driving surface being around 23.6 meters, with two carriageways and four lanes. The bridge is a hybrid design with the high-span or navigation-span having a cable stay design.

The vertical height of the fixed bridge is said to be some 50 meters from the mean highest watermark which means that large size vessels would be able to pass freely under the bridge.
Outside of the bridge’s ability to address losses in productive hours, the PSC said that the social benefits to the population are equally impressive.
“As a result of less travel time, persons can spend more quality time with their families in the evenings after work, and before school in the mornings,” the commission related.
It said too that there could be better productive and social use of time to engage in other activities; efficiency in transportation, and collectively, more productive time available to engage in productive activities to enhance individual livelihoods, and the same can be said for businesses.
“The new bridge would not be required to close to vehicular traffic for ocean going vessels; it will be built high enough for ships to pass under, this is another huge benefit,” the PSC said, noting that it would also reduce wear and tear for vehicles.

The commission said that this bridge was identified since 1996 for construction in the National Development Strategy, for which the Private Sector Commission played an integral participatory role.
“It is worth observing that the bridge was scheduled, at that time, to be built and completed by 2012, but, for a variety of reasons which the government has publicly explained, the conclusion of the contract has not been achieved until now, some ten years later than originally envisaged. Nevertheless, this much anticipated bridge across the Demerara River will be hugely welcomed,” the PSC said.