Modifications to the new Supenaam Stelling by the Ministry of Works “messed up” the structure, which in its current state is unsafe to use, BK International head Brian Tiwari says.
With the modifications said to have compromised the structural integrity of the Region Two stelling, BK yesterday emphasized that it had completed the project to the exact design and specifications required of it and it was certified and handed over to the government as a completed project. Four days after being opened for use, the Pomeroon/Supenaam stelling on Tuesday, was forced closed after the end beam of the loading ramp buckled when vehicles were being loaded onto a vessel.
During the course of works done by the Ministry, “significant other damage” was done to the structure, company officials said during a trip to the stelling organized for the media by BK yesterday. Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn declined to comment on Tiwari’s charges when contacted by Stabroek News. “Really, the Ministry of Work would do that”, he asked. “I have no comment to make at this time”, he said.
But Tiwari said “whatever the Ministry has done here is a willful act”. He said that when the stelling was handed over, Benn, Minister of Local Government, Kellawan Lall and other officials were present and at a meeting held prior, Benn behaved “badly” and said that he did not have money to spend on the stelling. “But when we come today here to see what the Ministry and the Transport has done here and I think this matter would end up in court because they have willfully broken all the pipes with the excavator. The link bridge has gone. They have damaged this place entirely. I don’t know how we’ll move with this from here because they have brutalized every single thing”, he said. “They put us in a terrible situation here now by coming and mess this whole place up”, he added.
Project Engineer, Julian Archer pointed out that the loading ramp was designed to carry a maximum load of 20 tons. It was explained that in the original design, the linkage between the ramp and the ferry – a drawbridge – would have been on the ferry and released from the vessel onto the ramp. However, the Ministry has attached the drawbridge to the ramp. It was the end beam, where the drawbridge is attached to the loading ramp, which buckled on Tuesday. Archer said that the excessive loading resulted in the structural failure of the end beam. He explained that if the original design was adhered to, namely a drawbridge from the ferry onto the loading ramp instead of the drawbridge from the loading ramp onto the ferry, then the weight would have distributed evenly and the end beam would not have failed. This was envisioned in the original design, he said.
The Ministry had also placed another pontoon to support the ramp and it was this that had sunk recently, the company’s spokesman, Kit Nascimento said. He said the installation of the pontoon behind is a modification the government chose to introduce without consulting with BK. Attaching the pontoon to the ramp also created problems. Additionally, sections of the concrete structure sustained damage and this was attributed to a 22- tonne excavator being used to place the second pontoon. Further, one of the attachments that hold the loading ramp to the concrete wharf was loosened.
An angry Tiwari said that the damage was willful. Those who did it and wherever they got the instruction from, they should account for it, he declared. “This is totally madness what they did here”, he said. He said that the original design, which the company worked with, was not this way adding that the structure now is not usable and “if it is ever used, it would kill a lot of people”. He said that President Bharrat Jagdeo should get involved and an investigation done.
Nascimento said that in the design and specifications of the stelling, the drawbridge was never intended to be attached to the stelling and was always intended to be from the ferry to the stelling. He said after the project was handed over, government sought to modify it. “It can’t work the way that they have now attempted to do it. And the critical thing is why did the government proceed to do work without consulting the contractor, without consulting the designer and without consulting the supervising company. They just proceeded to do the work clearly with insufficient knowledge or understanding”, he said. “BK International do not understand why the government intervened in the way they did”, he added. “It does not appear to BK to be any sound engineering reason for having intervened in this manner and they were not consulted”, he said calling it “evidence of extremely careless mismanagement and extremely careless engineering work”.
Nascimento said that when the loading ramp was tested, the truck used, officially weighed 18 tonnes but they later learnt that it, in fact weighed 22 tonnes. He said that Tiwari wrote Prime Minister Samuel Hinds on Wednesday and stressed that the stelling was built according to the design and in full compliance with all of the technical specifications. Photos were shown of the testing and it was stated that the Ministry claimed that the truck could only come half-way down the loading ramp but the photos showed that it drove to the end.
Asked about the fact that construction had started about four years ago and it was only recently the structure was tested, Tiwari said the issue was one for government. He added that there were some changes made which were incorporated into the design. “We only build based on what they tell us to build. We have everything in writing. We won’t change anything or modify anything unless the employer or the supervisor tell us to do it”, he said adding that that is what caused some of the delay. Nascimento added that when construction was completed, government was at that point in time not ready to take over and use the structure.
Asked why the company was worried when it could be said that they had no more responsibility since the project was already handed over, Tiwari said newspaper reports said his company was paid but had not completed the work and they want to make it clear what the facts are. Nascimento said that the reason for the stelling not being in use now has to be explained by the government and it is not BK’s fault or responsibility. Tiwari said this was the first part of the world where the drawbridge drops into the ferry instead of the other way around.
Asked what would now be necessary to modify it, Nascimento said that this is not something they can comment on readily without surveying the whole situation. Archer said the Ministry would have to stick to the original design with the drawbridge from the boat onto the loading ramp and repair the damage done.
