Rehabilitation of a 200-metre portion of Thomas Lands, Georgetown, will have to be redone by the contractor, Pooran Manman and Sons Contracting Services, as the asphalt work which was done is not of the required standard.
According to the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, the required weight which was needed to properly compress the asphalt was not used.
“The problem was…and he [the company’s contractor] was told by the engineers who have been investigating to see what’s happening, the day when he [contractor] placed the asphalt, he did not have a ten-ton roller to compress the asphalt so instead he used a three-ton roller.”
The minister went on to explain, “so because the asphalt is not properly compressed, because it didn’t have the required weight-roller to compress it, so when the rain fall with all of that intensity the water goes between and that’s what causing the cracking, resulting in the failure of the asphalt, it has nothing to do with the technology, it has to do with bad compression,” posited Edghill.
Edghill had previously told this newspaper that the placing of revetments or new technologies such as geotextile and geo-cells were in consideration for the road’s stability.
The $30 million contract which was initially awarded to the company in May with a three-month time frame, will now see added work being done with no additional cost to the ministry.
“So now he [the contractor] has to pick up all the asphalt, put down fresh asphalt and roll it with a ten-ton roller, I’ve spoken to Mr. Pooran Manman this afternoon and he said he’s going to get himself organised by the end of the week to get the work done… the engineers would’ve warned him (the company’s contractor) and they (the company) have not been paid for the asphalted work because it did not pass the test,” stated the minister.
The work had been hailed by the ministry upon its completion.
When this newspaper revisited the road yesterday, a newly developed pothole could be seen along the recently rehabilitated 200 metre section. Other potholes could also be seen forming near the intersection of Camp Road and Thomas Lands.
Stabroek News made several attempts to contact the contractor but calls were unanswered.
Concerns have been raised about the danger of substandard work on the government’s vast infrastructure programme and the likely cost to the country. In this case questions have been raised as to why the engineers did not insist on a ten-ton roller and ensured that it was utilised.
