Engineers from the Ministry of Public Works were yesterday completing work on the damaged culvert at the junction of Sheriff and David streets.

According to an official on the scene, high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes were installed within the damaged section of the road yesterday. He said ideally, the excess water which had spilled from the damaged metal pipe on Tuesday, should have been pumped out of the underlying base so that sand could have been compacted on the base before the pipes were laid. However, he said that the HDPE pipes are durable enough to withstand pressure from traffic traversing the busy roadway and he reasoned that work should be completed by tomorrow.

The official explained that the metal pipe which was replaced by the HDPE pipes had a few holes and he noted that while work was carried out on that section of Sheriff Street on a number of occasions, the holes within the metal pipe were not noticed until Tuesday. He said sand and other materials used in fixing the culvert may have been entering the metal pipe, resulting in parts of the road sinking.

When Stabroek News visited the scene yesterday, workers were sand filling the damaged roadway and were being assisted by officials from a   construction firm.

This newspaper understands that a few days ago engineers were fixing the culvert along the eastern carriageway of Sheriff Street when it was noticed that parts of the street on the western carriageway appeared to be sinking. Workers continued digging and the damaged metal pipe was exposed, spilling water on the roadway.

That section of Sheriff Street remained closed to road traffic while a few businesses in the vicinity, including the Guyoil Gas Station had their doors closed yesterday.