Prime Minister Sam Hinds has acknowledged that questions on the soundness of the pipe laying in Kingston have been raised with him and said that meetings are being held to resolve these issues.
An engineer close to the project had raised concerns about the integrity of the work done to lay a sewage pipeline underneath Battery Road, Kingston.
The engineer said government officials were notified of the concerns as far back as January when the work commenced.
The person, who is a regular visitor to the worksite, continues to be worried about road repairs set to begin following the completion of the pipe laying. He said the manner in which the pipes are being laid under the road might compromise the integrity of the road.
The engineer said he believed his position was being given some consideration by the company undertaking the work, Adam Development and Urbahn Associates (ADUA). “I am giving them a couple of days to take corrective action, now that the issue is out in the open,” the engineer said.
ADUA is behind the building of a large hotel, costing US$52M, which is supposed to be endowed with the Marriott brand on completion.
The sewage pipeline had to be diverted through the bottom of Battery Road, Kingston out to sea to make way for the 200-room hotel.
The engineer had pointed out to this newspaper that pipe beddings were not being laid to properly ‘sit’ the pipeline. The expert said that because of this, the pipes were in danger of getting elliptical in shape from the weight of road traffic.
This newspaper understands that the company carrying out the pipe-laying won’t be responsible for fixing Battery Road afterwards, and the Ministry of Works will have to re-cap the road.
But another engineer, also certified in road and highway construction, said that in the absence of the plans for the work, it would be difficult to assess whether or not it was being badly executed.
He said that for instance, if it were known what material would be used to overlay the pipes, this could have a bearing on the assessment as to whether the work was sound. He said too that since the pipe was being laid in the centre of the road, then this shouldn’t be a problem since traffic runs on the two sides and not in the centre, for the most part.
This engineer said that even having visited the site, he would still reserve comment on the integrity of the work until it was completed. He said fair criticism could only be made if benchmarks were known and were not being met, or specifications were not applied. This engineer said it was standard that at least 12 inches of material overlays the pipe and this would increase as the diameter of the pipe increases.
He said that time will tell if the work was sound adding that new technologies in engineering and construction could sometimes stump engineers who did their studies decades ago.
He opined that too many more established engineers were sceptical of new technologies in the sector and hold on to eons-old established methods.
The Guyana Water Incor-porated, which is supposed to be supervising the pipe-laying project, refused comment on the critical statements that were made.
The US$700,000 pipe diversion contract was initially given to Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited by the Guyana Government, having been a GOG-funded contract. But subsequently the contract was withdrawn and given to ADUA.
