Bids in for Corentyne River Bridge

Guyana’s Public Works Minister Juan Edghill and his Surinamese counterpart Riad Nurmohamed signing the agreement for the feasibility studies to be conducted for the Corentyne River Bridge. (File picture)

A Dutch company and a Chinese company have submitted bids to Guyana’s National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) to build the Corentyne River bridge.

They are The Netherlands-headquartered Ballast Nedam and China Road and Bridges.

Ballast Nedam has built most major river bridges in Suriname.

Demerara Waves Online News was told that the next step is for the bids to be evaluated before Guyana and Suriname decide on which company would build the bridge across the Corentyne River  from Moleson Creek in Guyana to South Drain in Suriname via Long Island.

Well-placed sources said the technical evaluation would be done first and that would be followed by a financial evaluation. “The envelopes with the financial have not been opened yet,” the official said.

The Trinidad-based consultancy firm, WSP Caribbean, has already conducted a number of studies to determine the best Design, Build, Finance and Operate model for the Corentyne bridge through a Public Private Partnership.

Suriname’s Technical Assistant for Capital Infrastructure Projects had earlier this year said the bridge would have a lifespan of 100 years and low as possible maintenance. The bridge which cater for ships of 47,000 dead weight tons, a horizontal clearance of 100 meters and vertical  clearance of 43 metres