As the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue road expansion project nears completion, additional sums will be required, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill yesterday disclosed during a visit to the site.
With additional works still to be completed, the new deadline for the much criticised project is now February 14, 2022.
Speaking with reporters along the stretch of road, Edghill said he and Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh, are currently in discussion regarding the source of the additional sums. He did not reveal by how much the project’s costs had overrun but noted that it is “no major difference,” from the original sum.
A contract for the rehabilitation of the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue Roadway was signed with Chinese Company Sinohydro at a cost of US$31,027,627. The financing was provided by the Inter-American Development Bank.
According to Edghill, the additional money is required to cover the cost of concrete drains and the quantity of materials used in the construction of road’s surface.
He said that despite being able to hold the contractor at the quoted price for the road surface at the time of the contract signing, they were unable to stick with the proposed method for the resurfacing of the road.
“What should have happened [is that on] the old road [we should have used] the crack seal and then build a new road but because of the period of time from the signing of the contract and the actual execution of the project the road has deteriorated so badly you just couldn’t use the crack seal,” the minister related.
He added that that the contractor had to engage in another method of construction by putting down crusher run before paving the road with asphalt.
“…so we had to end up using quantities that were more than in the original bill… Remember we had to take out all of the tubes and put in concrete drains [and] all of us know the math, the difference between the concrete drains [and tubes] were quite substantial… those are some of the issues with the project…” Edghill explained further as he justified the additional sums for the project.
He was quick to assure, however, that the additional sums will not jeopardise or place the completion of the project in any danger.
The minister added that while he hoped that the road construction would have been completed by now, he is somewhat satisfied that more than 95% of the project has been completed.
Within the next 48 hours, the contractor is expected to complete the paving of the final section of the road which would complete the surfacing of the new road.
The final 600-metre stretch of the road falls between the Lamaha Canal Bridge and Homestretch Avenue.
Works on that stretch of the road were postponed as assets were diverted to Mandela Avenue and the East Bank Highway junction over the weekend to complete that area.
The Minister noted that the extended timeline of the project only covers COVID-19 related issues and does not speak to the construction works.
As of yesterday, the first street light pole had been planted and Edghill said within the next few weeks, road users will be able to have a road that will allow for smoother flow of traffic.
He noted that within weeks, additional materials will arrive and contractors will move forward with the installation of road signage and lighting.
Global shipping woes have been blamed as one of the reasons for the delay in the completion of the project.
Just last month, the minister explained that after they were able to ship materials from China to Panama, the ship encountered an issue that prevented it from travelling further. As such, they had to wait to secure another vessel to transport the materials to Guyana.
He said too that under the Ministry’s special projects unit, they have upgraded 84 entrances along the carriageway to integrate them with the new height of the road.
During this period also, the minister said, the contractor will be engaged in the installation of guard rails along the roadway, road signage, and neatening of the road shoulders.
“I am satisfied that since as Minister of Public Works, I have gotten what [we] paid for and what [we are] paying for… Some are shocked, surprised and extremely pleased of what we are getting… this is a success project,” he emphasised while stating that “we literally moved mountains to get it done to where it is today…”
During a tour of the road in October, it was explained that in the vicinity of the Arapaima Bridge, the two lanes along Sheriff Street will transition into a four-lane road which should not present any traffic-flow issues since all the users have to do is follow the road markings. The four-lane transition will lead all the way to Distribution Services Limited, on Mandela Avenue. Heading south, the road will have another transition after going over the Lamaha Canal Bridge. The purpose of this transition is to alleviate the flow issues that are seen at the Homestretch Avenue junction. One of the contractors explained that the median in this area has a two-way turning and it goes from a broad to narrow width or has a ‘belly’. The reason for this is as you approach the intersection there is a slip lane so there are two lanes and upon turning, it becomes three lanes. This slip lane serves to accommodate right turns without holding up traffic. The next transition will be at Mandela Avenue, leading all the way to the first cross street in Alexander Village. According to the Public Works Minister, the road will then flow from a four-lane road to a two-lane road leading to Georgetown. The four lanes at Mandela will flow smoothly into the four lanes leading to the East Bank highway. There will also be a roundabout at the turn that is commonly referred to as the ‘Multilateral School turn’. The roundabout will connect Mandela Avenue to the new connecting road being built which leads to Eccles.
The minister pointed out that the area where the roundabout will be built is going to be left untouched until the contractors, who are meeting regularly, decide on when to start. He said the roundabout will facilitate a completely different project. The road it will be connecting to, he added, is a project under the Ministry of Housing and Water, and cited it as an example of the government’s attempts to build connectivity for the roadways. This project doesn’t have a deadline yet either.
This newspaper reported that the project had drifted behind schedule last year and several sub-contractors had to be engaged in a bid to speed up the work and return to schedule. It was previously estimated that the project would take two years to complete. The project was handed over to Sinohydro early in 2018.
