The construction of a four-lane structure to replace the floating Berbice Bridge is in works, Guyana’s Vice-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has disclosed.
During a press conference in Georgetown today, the former Head of State noted that project is already in the planning stage.
Jagdeo was at the time outlining his government’s masterplan for Berbice, which also includes the construction of a modern, state-of-the-art hospital in the county and a new highway.
“We are going to build a four-lane bridge across the Berbice River. We already have that in the works. We’re planning it – which will start – to replace the floating bridge too,” he said.
Jagdeo’s revelation comes at a time when works are ramping up at the new Demerara River Crossing, a structure aimed at either replacing or supplementing the existing over-40-year-old floating link there.
According to the National Trust, The Berbice River Bridge stretches across the Berbice River connecting the western bank of Berbice at D’Edward Village in Region five with its eastern bank at Crab Island in Region six. The completed structure was declared opened on December 23, 2008, by then-President Jagdeo and the Chairman of the Berbice River Bridge, Ms. Geeta Singh-Knight.
The bridge is the first structure to span the Berbice River and was built by the companies, Bosch Rexroth and Maybey & Johnson at a cost of US $40 Million (GYD $8.2 billion). It has a length of 1.57 kilometres (0.98 miles) and is considered the seventh longest floating bridge in the world as of 2016.
The Berbice River Bridge was built from Compact 200 Bridge system which was considered the most modern steel panel bridge technology in the world at that time. The surface of the bridge is coated with an epoxy resin overlaid with calcined bauxite, making it skid free.
