Initial stadium works pegged at $110M
Stabroek News
August 4, 2004
The layout of the World Cup Cricket stadium is moving towards its September-October deadline, although the current unseasonal rainfall poses a challenge.
The Golden Star Construction Company is responsible for this $110M phase of the stadium and Foreman Karran Singh told Stabroek News yesterday that the contract is of approximately 120 days duration.
Singh said Golden Star is responsible for the basic layout of the stadium. This involves putting down markers for the circumference of the stadium, and setting up the road and culvert infrastructure.
Upon completion of this stage a drainage and ground preparation contracting crew is scheduled to commence its work.
The site will have three roads, the foreman said. The first road one would meet if heading to Georgetown from the direction of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, will be 30 feet wide with four lanes. The second road will have two lanes and will lead into a park and the parking lot before linking with the number three road. The third road, which is to be 40 feet wide with four lanes, will lead right down to the rear of the stadium then run behind it with two lanes connecting with the first road.
The idea, Singh said, is to have the stadium surrounded by a road system so as to protect against anyone attempting to tamper with the back fence of the structure. The roads would provide smooth entrance and exit to and from the stadium from any side.
The parking lot and park area will be open on a regular basis creating a recreational spot for travellers or for people in the nearby communities to use as a spot where they can relax. At the completion of this initial stage of construction, the foreman said, they would have laid some 8,000 feet of roadway.
In addition to the roads, the project includes the construction of three culverts that cover the drains separating the main road from the stadium site. The culverts leading to the number three road are supposed to be 62 feet and the other two roads would accommodate two 36-foot culverts.
Eight drains must also be filled in on the site and three have been filled in at this point, he said.
Sand is posing a bit of a challenge the foreman admitted. He said when it rained the sand pits flood, cutting their loads from 1,000 cubic yards to about 600 cubic yards. This works out to about 100 loads of sand when the weather permits, and about 60 loads when the rainfall floods the pits.
The present unpredictable weather pattern is also causing the contractor some difficulty, since when it rains work must be halted. (Christopher Yaw)