Chinese engineering company Sinohydro, which is contracted to execute upgrading works along Sheriff Street and Mandela Avenue, has moved ahead with the trial application of asphalt between the Rupert Craig Highway and David Street, Kitty.
The trial application of asphalt was initially scheduled for over a week ago but was delayed due a mechanical problem with the road milling machine.
Ingram Edwards, Public Relations and Social Engagement Officer at Sinohydro, told Stabroek News that the company has been able to apply asphalt to a section of the road. The works, he said, will continue today and there will be restrictions on southward bound traffic.
He noted that after workers were able to get the machine working, they milled the stretch of the road and began applying asphalt yesterday.
At the conclusion of this exercise, Edwards related, stakeholders will visit and determine whether they are satisfied with the quality of work produced. Should they receive approval, he said, they will move forward with paving the road.
Motorists had previously been told that the section of Sheriff Street would be closed to south bound and that persons desirous of accessing the closed section would have to use the Conversation Tree Road or Church Road, Subryanville or another alternate route to proceed north on Sheriff Street.
Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill told Stabroek News that there are currently six sub-contractors, five of which are local, working along with Sinohydro to get the works done.
Edghill stated that the sub-contractors are executing different parts of the project. He pointed out that one contractor is working on the drainage, another on the construction of the bypass and bridge at La Penitence and others are working to re-lay new pipes and upgrade the Guyana Water Inc’s (GWI) distribution network. He explained that this is a necessary part of the project as they are aiming to prevent GWI from carrying out repairs and rehabilitation work after construction would have been completed.
The road upgrade project was halted due to COVID-19 precautionary measures in April and recommenced in Septem-ber after COVID-19 measures were implemented.
In April, Stabroek News reported that sub-contractors, who were awarded contracts for the construction of the drains and sidewalks along Sheriff Street, were trying to maximise their output given the prevailing good weather conditions and the reduction in traffic following the implementation of the COVID-19 restrictions.
The Sheriff Street to Mandela Avenue aspect of the works is expected to result in an upgraded two-lane road, while Mandela Avenue, from the Cultural Centre, to the intersection with Hunter Street, and the beginning of the East Bank Highway will be upgraded to a four-lane road. The two-year project also encompasses lane and shoulder improvements, placement of sidewalks and paved shoulders, traffic signals, streetlights, drainage upgrade works, a pedestrian overhead walkway, culverts, bridges and a roundabout. The four-lane section will also feature a dividing median.
The project was handed over to the company early in 2018 after the contract was awarded and work commenced in the latter part of the year. The contract is pegged at US$31.03 million and is being financed by the Inter-American Develop-ment Bank.
