China Railway Construction Company Limited (CRCCL) and its partners have begun preparatory works for the new bridge over the Demerara River.
“The company has begun preparatory work; administrative things, getting mobilized; getting their equipment, sourcing materials, engineering testings… and are keeping us up to date. As you know also, there was a tender for supervisory works and that is still being evaluated,” Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill told Stabroek News yesterday when asked for an update.
“So we are at that stage and I hope soon we will get the supervisory consultancy to manage the project…,” he added.
Edghill also told a press conference yesterday that he could not say when the actual first pile will be driven.
“I am saying that all the things that need to be done, to get construction at what you want to see going is what is taking place; the administrative things”, he said.
This newspaper understands that an agreement has been reached with the contractor and a person that owns lands in the Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara area to have equipment and material stored at the site.
With regards to the consultancy procurement, sources at the NPTAB informed that while details on the evaluation process cannot be made public while that process is ongoing, “it is wrapping up”.
The contract to build the estimated US$260M bridge was signed in May of this year between the government and CRCCL. This was after months of technical and financial negotiations with the most responsive bidder – China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) – fell through.
CRCCL and their partners, China Railway Construction (Caribbean) Company Limited, and China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group Company Limited, who tendered for the project in a joint venture, were then selected.
Sources had explained to this newspaper that CSCEC’s proposed rate of interest, on their US$256,638,289 bid, was not agreed to as the company’s negotiators were adamant that it would not accept a fixed rate and had wanted to set the conditions for changes “that would have been solely determined by them”.
The contract for a supervisory consultancy had to be retendered as eight companies had in March of this year bid for works that would have been done by CSCEC.
But five days after the contract was signed for the construction of the bridge, Financial Proposals were on 31st May opened for supervisory consultancy services for CRCCL’s works and eight companies again submitted.
While some of the previous bidders also bid, some did not.
Those bidding, according to the NPTAB’s website were Figg Bridge Inspection Inc. in association with E & A Consultant, Dan. B. & Associates at a cost of US$459,460, US$7,739,312; RITES Limited in association with CB Associates Inc. US$9,412,830, US$2,026,804; Dyrock Acuitas Consortium- US$2,630,925, US$11,665,806; WSP Del Istmo S:De R.L Infinity Service Inc.- US$6,774,360, US$1,131,976; Egis Group Consortium- US$1,396,503, US$5,236,888; Polite Ingegneria in association with SRKN’gineering Associates- US$4,400,000, US$440,000; RAISE International in association with CEMCO Inc., Stantec Consulting International LLC- US$2,192,676, US$15,661,973; and Daraya Enterprise Limited in association with BCC Engineering LLC- US$16,458,213.
The construction of the bridge will utilise a Design-Build-Finance (DBF) model. It is estimated that construction will last for two years. The bridge will be 2.65 kilometres long with a driving surface width of 23.6 metres to accommodate four lanes. The high-span fixed bridge will fall in the vicinity of the current location and terminate at Nandy Park on the East Bank of Demerara. “The new design of the Demerara Harbour Bridge will not require opening or retraction to allow for maritime traffic and will be built with a life span of at least 50 years,” the bidding document states.
There has been a major controversy over the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency not to require an Environmental Impact Assessment for the project.
Commuters crossing the existing Demerara Harbour Bridge have paid what are considered to be relatively low rates for decades as opposed to travellers over the Berbice Bridge which had been constructed under a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer model. Over the period that the Berbice Bridge has been in operation there have been unrelenting pleas for the lowering of fares.
