Corentyne River bridge: Govt mulls extension for submission of financial proposals

With a timeline of October 2023 for the official contract signing for a bridge over the Corentyne River linking Guyana and Suriname, the governments of both countries are considering extending the deadline for bidders to submit financial proposals for the project. This was revealed by Public Works Minister Juan Edghill during a recent episode of The Guyana Dialogue.
The Minister clarified that even if an extension is given, the governments will not go past their deadline to have a contract in place, which is set to October.
“Over this last couple of days, we have received correspondence through engagement with Suriname, and some of the bidders…have been requesting an extension of time for the submission of their financial proposals. However, we have set a time, which is October of this year, to have a contract in place. And even with the granting of the extension of time, our agreement is that we’re not moving past October for the getting of a contract in place,” the Minister explained.

According to Edghill, just a few weeks ago when the Public Works Minister of Suriname, Dr Riad Nurmohamed was visiting Guyana, they had both received a final report from the consultancy firm, Trinidad-based WSP Caribbean concerning the studies for the project.
“The work for that is apace. As a matter of fact, we had five companies that were technically qualified to build this bridge. Just a couple of weeks ago the Minister of Public Works in Suriname came to Guyana where we received a final report from WSP, which is the consultancy firm that was engaged to provide the governments with the kind of information that we need to ensure that when we get a proposal, we can properly evaluate it. They did some of the feasibilities, geotechnical studies, and the rest of it,” Edghill shared.
He noted too that this project is being undertaken according to the Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain model (DBFOM), adding that both the Government of Guyana and the Government of Suriname have expressed their commitment to getting this project completed.
This means that whichever company is contracted to build the bridge will be responsible for its design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance. It will also be constructed via a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The bridge is one of the first agreements between President Irfaan Ali and Suriname’s President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, with both Heads previously underscoring the critical role the bridge across the Corentyne River would play in advancing cooperation, creating more opportunities for development for both countries.
Last year, Edghill was in Suriname to sign a ceremonial agreement between the two countries to kickstart plans for the massive project. The Surinamese Public Works Minister has positioned that with this important infrastructure in place, both countries will benefit from a tremendous spinoff as it opens South America.
Back in May of 2022, a US$2 million contract was signed in Paramaribo for several preliminary studies and research to be conducted on the Corentyne bridge by WSP Caribbean. The Expressions of Interest (EoIs) were also simultaneously launched. Six international companies – five Chinese firms and one Dutch company from The Netherlands – had submitted bids for the construction of the Corentyne River bridge.
The high-span Corentyne River bridge will run approximately 3.1 kilometres, connecting Moleson Creek in Guyana to South Drain in Suriname with a landing on Long Island in the Corentyne River, where a commercial hub and tourist destination will be established. That free zone will see major infrastructural development such as hotels, recreational parks, entertainment spots, tourist attractions, malls, and farmers’ markets.
Running from Moleson Creek to Long Island, the bridge will be a low-level structure, approximately one kilometre long; with a 2200-metre (2.2 km) road across Long Island and a high bridge, spanning 2100 metres (2.1 km) thereafter.
At the high end of the bridge, which will facilitate marine traffic, it will cater for 40,000 to 45,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) capacity featuring a vertical (height) clearance of 43 metres and a horizonal (width) clearance of about 100 metres.
Meanwhile, upon completion, the bridge will not only link the two neighbouring countries but also open up access to greater economic opportunities beyond them into French Guyana, and through the road network being developed into Brazil, and eventually further into South America.