Works on DHB’s ‘span nine’ 30 per cent completed

Works to replace ‘span nine’ on the Demerara Harbour Bridge is about 30 per cent complete, Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, MP, has said.

The minister made a ‘spot check’ on the project’s progress on Wednesday.

Span nine is one of the retractors on the bridge which is in a dilapidated condition. The minister said should it collapse; the entire bride would become inoperable. The work is being undertaken by InFab to the tune of $1.2 billion.

“This is an enormous amount of work that is being done because what is being built for span nine essentially is one of the sections of the bridge which is about 170 feet long by 40 feet wide. So, just imagine a section of the bridge and that is part of that which retracts, 170 feet long by 40 feet wide,” the Minister stated.

He said the Government will continue its hands-on approach on projects that will benefit the people.

“Everything that you see taking place here now is the cutting of the parts and the preparation for the assembly of that new span. So, the big challenge that we have as a government and that is why I am here on the ground, we know the importance of the Demerara Harbour Bridge. We know if there is no Demerara Harbour Bridge where people can travel what that would mean.”

Meanwhile, Deputy General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, Troy Halley said the project has an eight-month deadline. However, he noted it might be delayed by a couple of months due to challenges faced by the contractor.

“The contractor would have indicated to us he has issues with bringing in materials, we know the issue with steel on the work market, the price has gone up, we know the issue also with covid. These are some of the issues he indicated to us he has been would have been faced with,” he said. Nevertheless, Mr. Halley says while the works are ongoing to build the new structure, maintenance works are steadily being undertaken on the Demerara Harbour Bridge.