Drop-dead date for new Demerara Harbour Bridge is August 31- Edghill

Last Updated on Thursday, 2 January 2025, 20:41 by Writer

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill on Thursday said the new Demerara Harbour Bridge would be completed by August 31, 2025, a six-month delay of his previously given deadline of March 31, 2025.

“We have some construction that needs to be done that you just can’t shorten the time because you have to have curing time for concrete and all the rest 0f it and we’ve gone through everything and the project team and the consultants and the contractor; we have agreed on a time schedule that nothing beyond August 31st,” Mr Edghill said.

The Public Infrastructure Minister said Thursday’s pronouncement was hinged on an update earlier in the day with the contractor, China Railway Construction Corporation Limited. The supervisory firm is the Italy-headquartered, Politechnica.

Mr Edghill’s update was given one day after President Irfaan Ali said that the new US$260-million east-west corridor would be completed by yearend. Prior to contacting Mr Edghill for the clarification in the presence of reporters, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo attributed Dr Ali’s pronouncement to a generalised timeframe rather than a specific one.

The bridge was first scheduled for completion by December 31, 2024, and later shifted to March 31, 2025.

Shadow Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson had questioned the accuracy of all of Mr Edghill’s deadlines and had stated definitively that none would have been met.

Vice President Jagdeo said the new fixed four-lane bridge, which would be toll-free, would open up new industrial opportunities in Region Three (West Demerara-Essequibo Islands) especially lands on the west bank of the Demerara River. He said large vessels would no longer have to await the retraction of a bridge to navigate waterway.