…as flyovers being considered for added traffic efficiency – Pres Ali

Road works are the final phases in the completion of the highly anticipated new Demerara River Bridge, which is set to open later this month; this was revealed by President Dr Irfaan Ali during a site visit on Friday to inspect the progress of construction works at the Eastern Approach Road that is being built to connect to the US$262 million Demerara River Bridge.
“From everything I’ve seen and I’ve been told, we’re looking for an opening before the end of this month,” he stated, adding, “…when I say opening, [it’s] opening fully for traffic.”
Currently, the final testing, including load testing, is being done on the bridge.

“The full load testing will be completed on the bridge so that we will have this project ready for use long before the end of this month. So, I’m pleased to see the final phase of the approach road work and the roundabout. From what I’ve seen [and been told], that will also be completed in the course of another three days maximum,” the President noted.
The load testing process includes placing 16 trucks, each weighing 15 tonnes, at particular sections of the bridge for a 24-to-48-hour period to read the movement of the cables.
In fact, during the construction phase, the crawlers used to transport the girders onto the bridge structure fetched about 160 tonnes, and a crane, weighing more than 700 tonnes, was also parked on the bridge.
During a visit to the bridge last month to witness the final pour of concrete to fully connect the two sides of the structure, the Head of State had assured that there would be no compromise when it comes to the structural soundness of the bridge in compliance with international standards.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment, you know, anywhere in the world to have this done in a [two-year] time frame. And as I said, we have not compromised any standards. All of the standards have been kept. And the consultants are here; they will sign off on the bridge. There’s a defect liability period of two years, so you know everything; all of the safeguards are there,” President Ali had stated.

Flyovers
Even with expanded road networks to accommodate the traffic from the new Demerara River Bridge, the Guyana Government is exploring the construction of flyover infrastructure to add efficiency to the growing traffic that is anticipated with the completion of the bridge project.
The new bridge is a 2.65-kilometre (km) four-lane cable-stayed concrete structure with a 50-metre (m) fixed-high span to cater for the free and uninterrupted flow of vehicular traffic and passage of vessels.
To support the new bridge, approach roads are being constructed at both ends of the bridge, which land at Nandy Park on the East Bank of Demerara and at La Grange on the West Bank of Demerara. On the eastern end, a four-lane road is being built out to take the bridge traffic directly onto the Heroes Highway, where a roundabout is currently under construction.
According to the Head of State, “The ultimate goal, for the greatest efficiency, is to have two flyovers: one on the Heroes Highway and one on the West Bank.”
However, the President noted that these are projects that his Government is looking at undertaking in the future and not immediately.
In the meantime, the Heroes Highway is being expanded to add two collector lanes to receive the bridge traffic and send it on to the four-lane Haags Bosch road, which connects to the Ogle-Eccles Road link.
“So, the engineers are looking at that also, so that you can have greater efficiency in terms of traffic flow,” President Ali stated.
On the western side of the bridge, a collector lane has already been added to take the traffic directly from the bridge onto the West Bank carriageway, instead of vehicles having to join the roundabout there.
These additional road works, the Head of State added, are being executed so that there is good traffic management when the new bridge is finally opened.
“So, we’ll see how this design, in terms of traffic management, works, but definitely with the growth of the traffic, we’ll have to have an unimpeded flow of traffic coming off the bridge over the new highway on both sides, whether you’re going on to the East Coast [of Demerara] or the East Bank or the West Coast [of Demerara] and West Bank,” the Guyanese Leader posited.
The bridge is being constructed by China Railway Construction (International) Limited with Politecnica as the supervisory consultant and with support from the technical team at the Public Works Ministry.
The new crossing will operate 24/7, toll-free, and accommodate vehicles of all sizes and weights, with a maximum speed limit of 80km per hour. At its highest point, the bridge is 50m, which means Handymax vessels can pass comfortably underneath.
With a lifespan of 100 years, the bridge is expected to mitigate current traffic woes and congestion. This new bridge across the Demerara River will replace the aged floating Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB), which will be removed and reused to bridge other waterways across the country.