The new Demerara River Bridge is on schedule to be open to vehicular traffic before the end of this month, according to President Irfaan Ali.

Ongoing works are ongoing on the approach roads to the bridge. On the eastern side of the bridge, a roundabout is being constructed at the approach point along Heroes’ Highway.

President Ali visited the worksite this afternoon and said work is moving apace and on schedule, adding that load testing on the bridge is also ongoing.

“So the final phase of testing in relation to the roads, the load testing on the bridge is ongoing also. The full load testing will be completed on the bridge so that we will have this project ready for use long before the end of this month. So I’m pleased to see the final phase of the approach road work and the roundabout. From what I’ve seen, that would also be completed in the course of another three days maximum from what I’m told”, the President said.

He said the Government is also looking at the further expansion of Heroes’ Highway to accommodate additional traffic.

“What we’re also looking at is the expansion of the Heroes Highway into adding two collectors lane to take the traffic that goes directly onto what we call the Haags Bosch interconnection going all the way back to Ogle. So the engineers are looking at that also so that you can have greater efficiency in terms of traffic flow. On the west side of the bridge, of course, there’s a collector lane that has been added to take the traffic from the west bank directly off of the bridge and to put it back on the west bank carriageway instead of going around the roundabout on the west side of the bridge. So these additional works are being completed so that we can have a beautiful bridge but also good traffic management in the process”, Ali said.

The President said the ultimate goal is to have the greatest efficiency in traffic management and the construction of two flyover roads also. Those projects are expected to come on stream at a later date.

The four-lane bridge spans 2.6 kilometres, connecting Nandy Park on the East Bank of Demerara to La Grange on the West Bank.

Its total width, including the four lanes, shoulders, and median, is just over 23 metres, providing ample space for safe and efficient traffic flow.

With a height of 50 metres, the bridge is specifically designed to accommodate Handymax vessels passing underneath. It was constructed at a cost of US$260 Million by the China Railway Construction (International) Limited. Construction work began just over two years ago.

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