The Ministry of Public Works yesterday invited expressions of interest (EOI) for pre-qualification for the construction of the bridge over the Corentyne River.
An advertisement in the Sunday Stabroek said that the bridge will be constructed using the design, build, finance, operate and maintain model and is to be built with a lifespan of at least 100 years.
This invitation comes after Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill and his Surinamese counterpart Riad Nurmohamed inked a US$2 million agreement on May 4th with WSP Caribbean Limited for the Feasibility Study and Design for the Bridge over the Corentyne River.
The agreement was signed in Suriname after Edghill led a delegation to the neighbouring country.
At the signing ceremony, the Surinamese Technical Assistant for Capital Infrastructure Projects, Kees Boender related that the contract is expected to last for seven months after which both governments would be in a position to advertise the tender for the construction of the bridge by late 2022 or early 2023.
The ad in yesterday’s Sunday Stabroek said that the EOI for pre-qualification should contain adequate information to be used by the governments of Suriname and Guyana to determine sufficient detail to guide the final form of the construction contract.
It must also contain proposals to maximize local content including local firms, suppliers and labour from both Suriname and Guyana.
Interested parties have to respond to both the authorities in Guyana and Suriname. They have to submit information by July 5, 2022.
Surinamese media had reported last year that eight bidders from around the world had already been shortlisted to build the proposed bridge. It is unclear what has become of that process.
The bridge will be located in the vicinity of the existing ferry stations between the two countries from South Drain in Suriname to Moleson Creek in Berbice. It is expected to be a high bridge with a horizontal clearance of 100 metres and a vertical clearance of 43 metres between South Drain and Lange Island in the Corentyne River to allow the passage of ships between 40-45000 death weight tonne.
From Lange Island to Moleson Creek the bridge would be much lower with a height of about 6 metres.
In November of 2020, and during a three-day visit by President Irfaan Ali to Suriname, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the joint bridging of the Corentyne River.
