An early morning fireworks display this morning signaled the final pour of cement to connect the new Demerara River Bridge. President Irfaan Ali was on site to celebrate the milestone as the construction of the bridge nears full completion.

The President explained that the new bridge is likely to go into full operation in September, as work is continuing on the approach sections to the bridge.

“So the bridge is structurally going to be completed. As I said, after this, the final concrete will be poured. The final piece of pavement. There’s one section of the entrance on the east end that will be completed. And of course, we had some modifications of the design, putting in a collector’s lane for better traffic management and traffic flow. So that is being completed. So I would say very early in September, we will be driving on and off of the bridge”, the President said.

On the approach road being built on the eastern side of the bridge, the President explained that the work is ongoing, but is likely to be completed within days, as some of the work had to be stalled because of the construction of the bridge. On the western side, the President said a number of structures that were set up to facilitate the construction of the bridge have to be removed as the collector’s lane is being completed.

He said the old Demerara Harbour Bridge still has to be removed, and engineers are now looking at that. According to the President, a number of areas are being examined for the relocation of sections of the old Bridge.

“We have engineers now studying, Public Works and some external engineers, studying the possibility of where we place the sections or the entire bridge, and look at the landing sites. You know, we’re talking about the Sand Hill Road, for example, the new Sand Hill Road from Timehri that will go all the way to Makouria, which is close to Bartica. That is one of the possibilities that we’re looking at right now. Of course, there are some other options that are being evaluated. But when the engineers finalize that, then we’ll be in a position to completely say where it will be and what will happen”.

The President said it is now a moment of celebration and there should be no apprehension about using the new bridge when it becomes open to traffic.

“This is a moment of celebration. The consultants are here. Our engineers are here. We have great confidence in them. They’re doing all of the tests, the globally accepted tests, loading tests, everything. And there’s nothing to be afraid of”, he said.

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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