Five bids to be ranked by evaluation committee
by Gitanjali Singh
Five proposals to bridge the Berbice River were submitted to the government two weeks ago and an evaluation committee is to be set up to rank the bids so that negotiations can start with the preferred bidder. Public Works Minister, Anthony Xavier last week said the criteria for evaluation were now being worked on and should be completed before the week was out to pave the way for the appointment of the evaluation team. "The team will then chose the best proposal for the project," Xavier said. Three of the five bids came from consortia whilst Reed & Reed (USA) and Ballast Needam International were the only single bids. The consortia included the second largest construction company in the Netherlands, Volker Stevens Construction (EU) which has teamed up with Action Engineering Services (Guyana) and the Guyana National Industrial Complex (GNIC) to form the Berbice River Bridge consortia. The two other consortia comprise American Enterprises (USA) which has teamed up with Universal Steel (USA), Pinnacle Construction (USVI) and GNIC as well as three South African companies, Group 5 Ltd, UWP Engineers and Mongmotse Capital which have teamed up with Matthews Associations of Guyana. The government had invited 12 companies to submit proposals no later than February 3 of this year but the deadline was extended to February 22. The firms invited and which have not submitted bids include Hafeez Karamat Construction Limited along with Sir William Halcrow & Partners Limited who were with Republic Finance/Merchant Bank and Acrow Corporation of the US. The GLF Construction Corporation/Figg Engineering Group/Durham Engineers/Trow Consulting consortium did not bid as well. The 12 companies which had initially expressed interest in the Berbice River Bridge Project were provided with a list of 18 specifications on which to bid. Among the requirements, were the specifications that the bridge was to be 11 feet wide, providing for two traffic lanes, with two shoulders three feet wide and one sidewalk six feet wide. The proposed bridge is also to have a main span over the navigation channel with a minimum vertical clearance of 85 feet above mean high water level and a minimum horizontal clearance of 180 feet. The proposals were to cover paved approach roads to connect the bridge to West Coast Berbice in the vicinity of Rosignol and the East Bank Berbice road. Toll plazas and bridge administration offices, including accommodation for police and weight bridges, are to be located on the bridge approaches. The proposal calls for the commencement of the actual construction of the bridge no later than November 1 this year with a deadline of October 31, 2002 for completion.
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