More than 50 Million $$$ to address Ocean View flooding woes

MOVING APACE: Works on the fence to the rear of the Ocean View Complex 

The Government’s costly makeover of the Ocean View International Hotel and the subsequent announcement of the state’s takeover of the facility to be used as a Coronavirus Hospital was met with apprehension by sections of the society given the facility’s flood-prone nature.

Green-heart wood being prepared for to aid revetment works

On Tuesday, BIG Smith News Watch paid a visit to the site where massive construction works and makeovers are been done to everything from the roof to the flooring to the drains of the facility is being done by a number of contractors.

Associated Construction Services out of Corentyne Berbice and headed by Peter Lewis is handling one of the most critical aspects of the works, i.e. the fence and fence and drainage which is expected to either significantly reduce or altogether stop the flooding the hotel was prone to in the latter two decades of its operations.

Initially awarded a contract of more than fifty million to erect a solid nine hundred feet of concrete fence and additional nine hundred and twenty feet of revetment, Associated Construction Services encountered some minor additional works which had to be done. They include anchor piles for the foundation of the fence and steel rods to keep the blocks in place.

“We are doing the emergency works by putting down 1820 feet of revetment and concrete fence which would work as a fence and retaining wall to avoid the overtopping seawater from getting into the compound,” Peter Lewis of Associates Construction told BIG Smith News Watch.

Lewis explained that the revetment would be nine hundred and twenty feet in length and comprise of only greenheart wood. He further stated that the concrete fence would be nine hundred feet in length. The foundation of the fence would be resting on greenheart piles, according to the head of the company.

A partly complete stretch of fence and revetment to the facade of the complex

Lewis told this publication that once his scope of works is complete by the deadline of May 23, 2020, he does not foresee any major issues with flooding at the Ocean View Complex.

According to him, when they arrived at the worksite, one of the first things they observed was that the entire drainage infrastructure at the complex was compromised by large trees that have grown into the drainage channels effectively preventing the facility to properly drain its accumulated water. All those trees were uprooted and are being removed from the location, he assured.

An emergency exit under construction at the Ocean View Complex

There is also a plan to have at least two submersible pumps; one within the compound in a reservoir and one outside to assist in efficiently draining any amount of accumulated water on the premises.

A suggestion was made to engineers at the site to have a self-acting door before the pump station which is located nearby so that water can still be pumped out of the compound even if the pump is on.

The Ocean View International Hotel located at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara has been out of operation for a number of years now. The hotel which is located just beside the East Coast Demerara Seawall which separates coastal communities from the Atlantic Ocean has been largely affected by overtopping, and spring tides which have devastated its operations and displaced guests overtime.