-Minister Edghill says hard work, determination, dedication, coordination by bridge construction teams made this possible

MINISTER of Public Works Juan Edghill announced on Sunday afternoon that the section of the East Bank corridor that was closed to facilitate works on the New Demerara River Bridge (NDRB) was on schedule to be reopened to vehicular traffic at 00:00hrs (midnight) on Monday instead of the publicised 03:00 hrs.

The minister made this announcement at the bridge’s Peters Hall construction site during a briefing with members of the media.

He said that the reopening ahead of schedule will allow persons traversing the airport route and those traversing and living on the East Bank carriageway, from the Demerara Harbour Bridge to Red Road, Providence, to drive freely on the thoroughfare.

The road closure was announced last week to facilitate the placement of girders on the NDRB.

This early reopening, according to Minister Edghill came from the hard work, determination, dedication and the coordination of the entire team.

The minister said, “We knew that an interruption of this carriageway would cause great inconvenience. And a lot of planning was put into it. And the execution was seamless, without incident and we are very, very happy about that.”

Stating that this significant achievement had to be accomplished, he recalled that there were issues in the section that was closed which caused some project delays.
He mentioned the removal of the houses that were in the path of the bridge and said that since then, a significant amount of work has been done on the bridge.

“These girders are made in two factories on both ends of the bridge and they have to be transported from the factories to this mechanism, which is quite a new thing here, and placed. When they put the cable stake on the section, which is the high section where the ships have to pass underneath, they have to put the cables in and cast that section,” he explained.

Continuing, Minister Edghill said that when this is finished, it has to be given a certain amount of time to cure before they are able to move on to another section. On the western side of the NDRB, four cables out of 17 have been installed, while on the eastern side three cables out of 17 have been installed.

Speaking on the manpower needed for completion of the bridge, the minister said they have worked with the Chinese contractor and the consultants to increase their teams.

He said, “If the contractor is working, the consultant also needs to have more resources on the ground to supervise and ensure that everything is in order. So we have to increase the size of the consultant’s team, and we have to increase the size of the workers.”

The minister stated that more than a hundred persons have been added to the team to ensure the August 2025 deadline is met.

Acknowledging the hard work of the contractors, he said, “The contractors have been working around the clock, Sunday to Sunday. So, I can’t come here and make noise about why you’re lazy, why you’re not working, why things are not moving. They are literally working around the clock, Sunday to Sunday.

“And like I said, with the consultants, they have to expand their team to make sure that they are able to supervise around the clock as well.”

Construction of the NDRB is being done by the China Railway Construction Company (CRCC). Works initially commenced on the bridge in May 2023.

The public works head expressed that this is indeed a transformational project that all Guyanese are anticipating, while also acknowledging that the work has to be done right, made safe and ensure that they are getting value for their money. (Faith Greene)