Rehabilitation of Good Hope Bridge ongoing

April 9, 2018

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DPI, GUYANA, Monday, April 09, 2018

The much-needed rehabilitation work on the Good Hope Bridge, on the East Coast of Demerara, that commenced last week and is currently ongoing.

Senior Engineer at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Sherod Parkinson explained to the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the scope of the work includes demolition of the old Acrow Panel structure and reconstruction of a concrete one.

Senior Engineer at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Sherod Parkinson.

“When we change from the Acrow Panel Bridges to the free stress concrete bridges, there is no disruption to traffic, no maintenance issues, and everything flows smoothly, we don’t expect to have any problems with the bridge in the near future,” Parkinson explained.

A $23.5M contract was awarded to BK International for repairs to the bridge. Parkinson said these upgrades should have been completed last year along with the Annandale and Lusignan bridges, but there were some challenges, particularly in relation to traffic.

“We thought it best not to run all three bridges at the same time because of traffic issues with the construction of the other two, but because they were in an area where there were more access points to leave and enter the railway embankment, the traffic burden wasn’t felt much by the driving public but because of the location of this bridge there seems to be a greater impact on traffic,” the Senior Engineer underlined.

As the government works to ensure infrastructure is upgraded countrywide, the Senior Engineer is calling on citizens to be patient as the contractor steps up the pace of work to complete the bridge before its scheduled one-month duration.

Parkinson stressed the importance of the repairs to the bridge “it’s best to have this short discomfort to replace the bridge rather than have it collapse and result in the loss of a life”.

Residents have welcomed the upgrades to the Good Hope Bridge stating that the discomforts are temporary and the long-awaited upgrades will significantly improve travelling when completed.

The government is committed to the continuing development of the country’s infrastructure in the construction/rehabilitation of bridges both on the coastal and in the hinterland regions, in order to foster growth and economic development. In 2018, $840.4M was allocated in the budget for the works on the Demerara River Bridge, construction of a bridge across the Kurupukari and other bridge-improvement initiatives.