Rehabilitation works on the Lethem, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo (Region Nine) road network have begun.
Speaking with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Hinterland Engineer Jeffrey Walcott said that the roadway will encompass an asphaltic concrete surface for two northbound and two southbound lanes of 3.5m width each.
Users of the road have complained bitterly about its current state.
Part of the underground drainage network. (DPI photo)
DPI said that the roadway will also be equipped with sidewalks, concrete gutter, curbs and for the first time in Guyana, underground concrete drainage tubes and manholes.
“The proposed roadway will have an impressive underground drainage system that is being used in developed countries. The drainage network utilises a system of interconnecting concrete tubes varying in diameters from 400mm to 1000mm. Manholes will be constructed at intervals to collect water and for inspection purposes,” Walcott said.
The new underground drainage system will utilise concrete tubes of varying sizes which are being used as splines across the road.
Walcott told DPI that these drains, running under the sidewalk, will take the water off the carriageway. They will flow into collector boxes which will then move along the concrete tubes to the Tabachinga Creek and some into the Takatu River.
To date, the underground drainage is about 85 percent complete. The paving and construction of the carriageway is expected to begin in October, weather permitting.
The first phase will see two lanes being paved from the base to the asphalt, with a median, and a sidewalk and the underground drainage. It is expected to be completed by the end of September 2018.
Phase one of the work is being done by JR Ranch Incorporated while phase two will be done by H. Nauth & Sons Civil Engineering Contractors at a cost of $187.8M and $76.6M respectively.