Buxton Pump Station construction is a “failure” – Engineer

Popular engineer Charles Ceres on Monday said that the recently-constructed $240 million pump station at Buxton on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) is an “engineering failure” since too much money was spent to build it with no instrumental benefits to the residents.

Ceres, who is a Civil, Geotechnical and Groundwater Hydrology Engineer and founded Ground Structures Engineering Consultants Inc, made the statement when he addressed the opening of the University of Guyana’s School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation Inaugural Entrepreneurship and Innovation Conference at the Ramada Georgetown Princess Hotel.
The engineer said that the majority of projects were plagued by engineering failures that were both detrimental to the public and to the drive to ensure that Guyanese people have a living wage. He added that the failures were evident in both the Public and Private Sectors, but expressed concern with regard to the Private Sector, since he noted that optimisation of resources should be paramount to the Private Sector.
“Engineering failure is the failure to optimise the use of money, recognise opportunities and failure to provide value to the end user. This optimisation ensures minimisation of costs and risks and maximisation of benefits,” he said.
Turning his attention to the Buxton Pump Station, Ceres said the construction included the removal of soil to a depth of approximately 20 feet followed by the construction of a hollowed concrete structure built on a pile foundation.
“The soil removed weighed more than the pump station. It begs the question why was piles removed. The engineers at the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Drainage and Irrigation Board said they were unaware of this ever having been done before. These individuals were informed of several such structures being built as part of GuySuCo infrastructure. Engineers of the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Drainage and Irrigation Board are more focused on precedent. Precedent is sometimes applicable in law and not in engineering. The pump station construction is a failure. It did not optimise the benefits to the end user, since too much money was spent to build it,” Ceres posited.
Earlier this month, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder commissioned the $240 million drainage pump station aimed at alleviating flooding in Buxton and surrounding areas. The pump station is equipped with a 70.6 cu/sec pump, which has the capacity to discharge water at a rate of 31,700 gallons per minute.
Following intense flooding, Government secured a $1.4 billion line of credit from the World Bank for the construction of three pump stations located at Lusignan, Friendship/Vigilance, and Enmore.