Though delayed, new Demerara River bridge will be delivered this year – Govt

…extension to facilitate curing of concrete works

The completion of the new US$260 million four-lane bridge across the Demerara River, which was shifted from a 2024 year-end deadline to March 2025, has now been further extended by another five months in order to allow for the concrete works to be properly cured.

This was the outcome of a meeting between a President Dr Irfaan Ali-led Government team and the contractor, a consortium led by China Railway and Construction Corporation Limited (CRCCL), on Thursday afternoon. Public Works Minister Juan Edghill and Housing and Water Ministers Collin Croal and Susan Rodrigues, along with their technical teams, were part of the discussions.
During the engagement, the Head of State was updated on the progress of the construction of the new bridge and the access road leading to the bridge.
In an invited comment after the meeting, Edghill explained that the deadline extension was given after examining the realities of the works and the project deliverables. Government had previously granted the extension to March 2025 after there was a late delivery of some of the project sites to the contractor.
“We have some construction that needs to be done that you just can’t shorten the time, because you have to have curing time for concrete and all the rest of it,” Edghill told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
According to the Public Works Minister, after going through everything, “…the project team and the consultants and the contractor, we’ve agreed on a time schedule [of] nothing beyond August 31.”
Already, President Ali, in his New Year address to the nation, had committed to the new Demerara River Bridge being operational by the end of 2025.

No cost increase
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, during his weekly press conference on Thursday, assured that the project cost has not increased.
“There is no cost overrun now on the bridge, so that’s good for [the government]… So, for me, a few months’ delay is not fatal,” Jagdeo contended.
The Vice President went on to highlight that the enormous benefits to be accrued from the bridge outweigh any negativity being peddled relating to its delay.
“It’s being built… [And] by building that concrete four-lane bridge and allowing free movement without tolls, we’ve suddenly created the conditions for the industrialisation of Region Three, because already we’ve run out of room for the industrialisation in Region Four,” VP Jagdeo pointed out.
Back in September, Minister Edghill had reported that the Demerara River Bridge project was some 67.8 per cent completed. While the bridge is being constructed by the CRCCL International-led joint venture construction, Italian firm Politecnica is providing supervisory services on the project.
The new bridge would land aback Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara (EBD), and at La Grange, West Bank Demerara (WBD). A massive 650-person workforce is working to advance the project. Of these, 120 are Guyanese while 85 are Venezuelan migrants.

The new bridge will be a fixed, 2.65-kilometre, four-lane, high-span, cable-stayed structure across the Demerara River, with the width of the driving surface being about 23.6 metres. It will feature a bicycle lane, and would bring to an end bridge closures for vehicular traffic with a 50-metre fixed high span to cater for the free and uninterrupted flow of vessels. The river would be dredged along a 13.5-kilometre stretch to accommodate large vessels.
This new fixed high-span structure would replace the aged floating Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB), which has outlived its lifespan by several decades.
With a length of 1.25 miles (2.01km), the DHB is a strategic link between the East and West Banks of the Demerara River, facilitating the daily movement of thousands of vehicles, persons and cargo.
Hence, the new bridge across the Demerara River is a critical component of the Government’s drive to expand and modernise Guyana’s transport infrastructure, and will address the challenges faced by users of the current bridge by providing safe, efficient, and effective crossing.
Upon completion, it is also expected to lay the groundwork for other economic opportunities for Regions Three and Four, including agriculture development, tourism, construction, housing and commerce.
More specifically, however, this new Demerara River bridge would provide better connectivity to the East Bank Demerara corridor which leads to the country’s main port of entry – the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) – and the capital city of Georgetown, as well as the East Bank to East Coast (Eccles-to-Ogle) Bypass Road on the eastern side of the river and the West Bank Demerara (WBD) roads, including the Parika-to-Schoonord road on the western side of the river.