Beef Island Bridge soon to be commissioned
With the construction of the new Beef Island Bridge completed, government
is expected to announce shortly when the bridge will be
commissioned, according to reports from the Legislative Council.
Minister of Communications and Works the Honourable J. Alvin Christopher
gave an update on the project during the 23rd Sitting of
the 1st Session of the 14th Legislative Council. He said the project was
taken over by government from contractor Samuel S. Condé
& Associates on May 18th with the issue of the Taking Over Certificate.
“After a few unfulfilled promises by the contractor, the final 10
beams were received on March 7th,” the Minister reported. “After
mid
March, the Employer’s Representative notified the contractor that
he was required to complete the works by the revised time for
completion date of May 14th (and) work was completed by that date.”
Minister Christopher said the certificate was issued following tests
that consisted of a site inspection on May14th by the Employer’s
Representative, a site inspection on May 17th by the Director of Public
Works and the Employer’s Representative and the
contractor’s submission of the items contractually required for the
Taking Over Certificate.
He said the Certificate confirms that the works were completed in accordance
with the contract, except for minor outstanding work
that does not affect the use of the works for their intended purpose.
He said the list of minor outstanding/defective works required to
be completed before the Performance Certificate is issued at the end of
the contract period (i.e. 365 days after the Take Over
Certificate), was issued to the contractor along with the Take Over Certificate.
“The project was completed in accordance with the revised contract
sum of approximately $3.720 million,” Hon. Christopher
reported. However, he said there were some exceptions, including a variation
of $4,643 added to the contract for preliminary
electrical works on the project.
There was also a net deduction of $76,000 made from the contract after
giving the contractor notice on March 27th of a decision to
remove the demolition of the QE II Bridge from the revised contract. The
contractor reportedly received $24,000 in profit and
reasonable overheads for the removal of this item from the revised contract.
“A sum of $60,000 was deducted from the contract payments for liquidated
damages assessed against the contractor in accordance
with the contract, for his failure to complete the project by the contracted
date of December 15th, 2000,” Mr. Christopher told
LegCo.
He reported that there is till the outstanding matter of the contractor’s
claim of approximately $4,024 million on which no agreement
has as yet been reached. A meeting was held on March 29th to discuss a
settlement in terms of a much lower figure determined by the
Employer’s Representative without prejudice to the employer’s
position that the claim had been submitted long out of turn and that in
accordance with the contract nothing was owed to the contractor.
“However, the talks broke down and no consensus was reached,”
the Minister told the House. “The employer’s position with regard
to any payment on the claim has not wavered from that stated in the meeting
on March 29th, 2001,” he insisted.
Meantime, work commenced on the Tortola side of the approach road to the
bridge in early March and was expected to begin on the
Beef Island side May 29th.
“The contractor has already been notified of this event and was
asked to vacate and re-instate the site by Monday May 28th. The
contractor had given notice of his intent to demobilize by March 18th,
but that has not yet taken place,” Minister Christopher
reported.
In responding to questions put to him later in the Sitting, the Minister
for Communications and Works said government does not yet
have a definite dollar figure on the projected annual maintenance costs
of the new bridge. “Our assurances are that such costs will be
low in the early years due to the type of construction…unless there
is a catastrophe, no major annual maintenance costs are
foreseen.”
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