In preparation for construction of a modern 12-storey structure, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn on Wednesday oversaw a soil testing exercise on the site where the new Brickdam Police Station will be built.
According to a release from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the geotechnical investigation will aid in the selection criteria for the foundation of the 120 X 80 feet structure which will be used as the new Guyana Police Force Headquarters.
“The specific objectives are to perform geotechnical tests to acquire information on the ground strata and engineering properties. These objectives are to determine the classification of soil at each layer, and the depths of the layers, the cohesion and adhesion of each soil stratum, the angle of friction of the soil at each soil stratum, the rate and magnitude of soil consolidation, groundwater condition and permeability of the soil,” the release explained.
The release said that “disturbed and undisturbed” samples are expected to be obtained at the different soil strata for testing in accordance with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards.
The geotechnical investigation is expected to last for four days and is a collaborative effort of the Ministry’s Project Unit, specialists from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and the Ministry of Public Works.
More than 80 per cent of the Brickdam Police Station was destroyed in a fire on October 2 last year.
A Guyana Fire Service (GFS) investigation concluded that the fire was an act of arson.
The police had stated that a prisoner, Clarence Greene, who was in the lock-up at the time of the fire, confessed to starting it out of frustration. He was charged with arson and remanded to prison.
At the Region 4A annual thanksgiving and awards ceremony in December, Benn had announced that a modern structure would be constructed to house the new police station.
A sum of $400 million has been allocated in the 2022 national budget for the project. The sum, Benn had said is just the first tranche for the project.
On the sidelines of an event earlier this year, Benn had said that a number of designs for the steel structure are currently being explored.
“…This is the first tranche in relation to that investment. We already have three concept drawings and we are looking at the foundation and the footprint issues in relation to the building and then the internal detailing as to what we would have in consultation with the police for a new modern Brickdam Police Station, which will take us way into the next 30 or 40 years or more,” he said.
“The foundation works will have to be piled… it will be a steel structure, there will be a more open concept, the reticulation and those issues will have to be different and modern and also the fire protection,” Benn added.
