The much-hyped $475 million Cemetery Road rehabilitation project has finally limped to its conclusion after two years with many delays but there are signs of poor and incomplete work which could pose hazards to users.
The road’s convergence from two lanes to a single lane at Princes Street is already causing gridlock during rush hours based on observations made by Stabroek News and road users. The road’s alignment and its narrowness at this crucial intersection create dangerous blind spots.
The bridges have been criticised by local engineers who spoke with SN. Steel reinforcements sticking out from the bridge foundations are not just an aesthetic flaw; they pose a significant risk of corrosion, leading to cracks and potential collapse in the future.
Adding to the issues, there are no visible weep holes in the bridge design which could easily lead to flooding.
At the end of the road where the walkway ends, there’s no safe drop-off point.
The kerb wall appears to lack proper reinforcement and has already started to show signs of disintegration.
The quality of concrete and hand mixing appear to be issues here.
A civil engineer speaking with SN suggested that the cement squares may be manhole covers which will need to be broken if there is a need to access the channel at the bottom.
In several areas of the newly paved cemetery road, SN reporters were able to poke holes through the asphalt. This suggests, based on the review of local civil engineers, that these sections of the road are likely to develop potholes over time.
On August 10th, the Department of Public Information (DPI) said that during an inspection, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill said that 96 per cent of the works had been completed with two bridges left to be cured after being recently cast.
All the work that had been executed over the preceding two weeks had been done by sub-contractors who worked simultaneously to meet the deadline after a ‘Programme of Execution’ was agreed upon.
DPI said that these include Devcon Construction Inc. which did the culverts and was finishing up with the pedestrian bridges and GDJ Logistics which transformed the site by removing the obstacles and completing the paving works that needed to be done.
Additionally, final works were still being done by Avinash Contracting Company which was the main contractor.
