Work on the seawall sinkhole and its environs is progressing and the first phase should be finished soon, according to Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Geoffrey Vaughn.
Speaking to Stabroek News on Friday, Vaughn explained that within the next few weeks the first phase of work should be completed, which will see them moving onto the second phase. He explained that while they haven’t worked out the full extent of the work that will have to be done on the second phase, the contractor, Colin Talbot Construction Services has been making headway and has been pushing to have the work completed as soon as possible.
He pointed out that currently the contractor is in the process of laying the pipes and casing them in concrete. Even though the repairs are proceeding as per normal, Vaughn said there were hiccups at the start. However, the contractor was able to overcome them and get back on track. The repairs were expected to be completed within eight weeks, but Vaughn said it might take a bit longer.
Stabroek News visited the site on Friday and most of the sinkhole was already filled, while the contractor was laying the new pipes.
The cost of the contract was pegged at $142 million and work began in March.
“We need to replace several pipes that are under the road around the area and a provisional sum is in the bill in case of added works when the whole surface has been opened up,” Vaughn had said, while stating that when the workers actually got under the road they might discover that the damage was more severe than they had initially thought.
A small sinkhole had initially developed late in December and it was enlarged in order to apply a temporary fix. One of the engineers had explained to Stabroek News that the depression in the road, which resulted in the formation of the sinkhole, was due to a galvanized pipe bursting and water seeping under the road. Because of the excess water interacting with the earth, the road caved in, resulting in a traffic hazard.
However, a week after the temporary fix was applied, a few more depressions appeared on the road, several feet away from the sinkhole, suggesting that it was not addressing the issue.
