Deteriorated West Coast access road to be fixed by Saturday

Contractors BK International and Surrey Paving and Aggregate Company Limited are working robustly to ensure that the deteriorated section of the Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD) access road is completely rehabilitated by Saturday.
This is according to a senior official at the worksite. He explained to Guyana Times on Thursday that the team was preparing to lay a second layer of asphalt.
Although the source was unable to say how much these works would cost the contractors, it was noted that that section of the road was currently closed to motorists who would utilise the pedestrian and even cycle lanes at this time.
Last month, after a section of the road began sinking, contractors conducted tests to determine the cause.
This newspaper understands that the road section began deteriorating as a result of faulty foundation works previously conducted on the newly-commissioned road.
In fact, Head of the Works Services Group at the Public Infrastructure Ministry, Geoffrey Vaughn made it clear that the contractors were now standing the expenses to conduct repairs to the road, under the defect liability clause in the

contract.
He explained during a telephone interview that the contract has a defect liability period, which means any defects, which develop, in this case over a year’s time, would have to be repaired by the contractors and not the Ministry.
Earlier this month, Surrey Paving and Aggregate Company Limited, a Jamaican company, had begun drilling holes around the sunken section of road at Vreed-en-Hoop, to help determine what caused the road to sink.
Guyana Times was told that days before the hole formed, the patch was uneven and rough, causing motorists to avoid using that section of the roadway.
The project, which was constructed to the tune of some $9.7 billion, was completed this year by the two contractors after several hiccups and setbacks.
Back in July when the road was commissioned by the subject Minister, David Patterson, it was noted that the project was funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
Some 30.7 kilometres of the West Coast roadway was rehabilitated to include bridges and culverts, new ‘shared-use’ lanes for cyclists and pedestrians at key junctions, the installation of high-visibility traffic signs and road markers, the installation of pedestrian footpath bridges, the construction of concrete drains at critical locations and the construction of parking lanes along identified sections of the road, the Department of Public Information reported.
The expansion entailed the improvement of about 30.7 kilometres of the West Coast Demerara Road from Vreed-en-Hoop to Hydronie, East Bank Essequibo just about one mile East of Parika.