— geotechnical studies conducted – Edghill
MINISTER of Public Works Juan Edghill on Saturday revealed that all works have been suspended on ‘Red Road’ after more ‘movements’ were detected by the contractors working there.
Repair works started immediately on a section of the road at Providence, East Bank Demerara (that leads to the Amazonia Mall) after the road caved in under the weight of 30,000 tonnes of aggregate that were stockpiled next door at the parking lot of the national stadium on Thursday.

“We started by excavating all of the unstable materials, then we went deep enough to ensure that we reached solid clay. When we reached the solid clay, we started to put sand to compact, after which we would have put loam, then crush and run, and finally pavement.
“However, while we were compacting the sand, we started to get additional movements, which caused the engineers to move to the next level, which is to do geotechnical studies,” the Public Works Minister told the Sunday Chronicle during a telephone interview.

Once the report from the geotechnical studies is analysed, only then would the authorities be able to decide the way forward.
“We have done the boring for the geotechnical studies today (Saturday); we went as deep as 24 metres, and that analysis is being studied, and by Monday, we should be able to get the results. After we see the results on Monday, only then will we be able to determine what needs to be done going forward.”

Edghill is optimistic that the data collected for the geotechnical studies will be able to help “us better understand the way forward.”
“We are very much aware of the commercial properties that are in that specific area, and as such, we have to study what is happening there. We cannot just fix the road and leave it; because it has to be fixed, we are now looking at the movements of the soil, and we have to await the results of the studies.”

Because of the scale of the work involved, the Public Works Ministry is unable at this time to provide an estimated cost for the work.
Meanwhile, the technical report that was submitted to the ministry confirmed that the road was indeed damaged because of the stockpiled aggregate exceeding the shear strength of the foundation soil directly beneath it.
As such, the government quickly moved to reduce the aggregate by distributing it to contractors.
Meanwhile, Minister Edghill is also pleading with the general public to desist from using that area as much as possible until the issue is rectified.