President Dr. Irfaan Ali confirmed early Thursday morning that commuters will be able to travel on the new Demerara River Bridge early next month, given that all structural and auxiliary works will wrap up soon.
“Very early in September, we’ll be driving on and off the bridge,” President Ali declared.
The President gave this assurance on Thursday morning as he witnessed the final pour needed to connect the western and eastern sides of the bridge. With that final pour, he explained, the bridge is structurally complete.
Amid fireworks and much celebration, Dr. Ali said some final touches, including the remaining paving and other auxiliary features, are needed. He also said that testing- including load testing- is being done throughout the construction process. Some work is being done on the connecting roads on both sides too.
Still, the President assured Guyanese that the bridge will be open soon for their use.
The US$260 million four-lane bridge has a lifespan of 100 years. It will replace the existing Demerara Harbour Bridge and operate around the clock, accommodating vehicles of all sizes and weights, with a maximum speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour.
More than 50,000 daily commuters are expected to benefit from the new bridge.
Meanwhile, President Ali also highlighted that engineers are still examining how the existing bridge will be used.
“We still have to remove the old bridge… we have engineers now studying the possibility of where we take the sections or the entire bridge,” he told reporters Thursday morning.
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