Red Road collapse: No timeline for completion of repairs, cost yet to be determined

Following the unusual development of a bulge on ‘Red Road’ at Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD), the Public Works Ministry is working around the clock to fix the damaged roadway.
On Thursday, the road bulged some six to eight feet as a result of the weight of the stockpile of aggregates on the extension of the parking lot of the National Stadium, the Public Works Ministry said.
During a press briefing on Friday, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill noted that four contractors – EC Vieira Investments Ltd, AJM Enterprises, Excel Engineering and GuyAmerica Construction would assist in redistributing the weight of the stockpile. The total tonnage of aggregates in the stockpile amounted to 30,000.
“We have since been able to arrange orders with contractors who need an urgent supply of crusher run. [On Friday], we expect to move about 9000 out of the 30,000 tonnes off-site,” Edghill said.

“There are four contractors actively engaged in Government contracts that need crusher run. We have our auditors on site and there is a scale in the compound. So, everything has been documented and that operation of loading of trucks and moving off-site has been continuing,” Edghill said.
Some 150 metres of the road were destroyed.
Given the magnitude of the damage, Edghill was unable to give a specific timeline for the completion of repairs or an overall cost for the operation, but noted his intention to complete it “in the shortest possible time”.
To safely implement this project, the Ministry engaged with GTT to remove the fibre-optic cables under the roadway and with the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) to ensure the water supply was not affected.
Minister Edghill also noted that Excel Engineering and GuyAmerica Construction will be handling the reconstruction of the damaged roadway.
“It is clear that in the first instance, we’ll be seeking to get the road rehabilitated and restored so that we could have traffic. But even before this event, there were some development plans,” Edghill said.

“We want to be able to execute a turning lane so that the traffic doesn’t have to be backed up when you’re turning in, and widening the bridge. So, I have asked my team to look at the possibility of how we can get that done at the same time while we’re having this current inconvenience, to execute those works,” Edghill said.
As these repairs continue, Minister Edghill urged pedestrians to avoid using the roadway as it presents significant safety risks.
“The fact that people are still walking in and out is a major safety concern for us at the Ministry of Public Works, as well as the contractors on site. We would love to have a remedy where there could be an alternative, [but] people are still choosing to go to the Eastern East Bank Highway as opposed to going the other way, so we have to get that remedied,” Edghill said.
Owing to a shortage of crusher run in the country, this stockpile of aggregates was generated by the Public Works Ministry, to distribute aggregates across various Government projects accordingly.
However, Edghill noted that this Red Road experience has prompted the Ministry to re-evaluate the level of tonnage that could be stored in stockpile yards.
“I guess we have to now put some closer monitoring and regulations on how much weight and how much tonnage we can put in a stockpile yard… depending on where that is located,” Edghill said. (Pooja Rambaran)