• BAPE
recommends that 3S be asked to provide information on the type of street lighting
selected for the project and the analysis carried out to determine the impact
of this choice on maintenance and operating costs. They should also be asked
to provide details of the wind speed and loads used in the design of these lighting
poles and their supports.
4.
It was observed that the original 75mm and 100mm conduits for the street
lighting were removed
and replaced with 50 mm conduits. The larger conduits in the original design would
have permitted some redundancy in the cabling installed and therefore improved reliability
of the street lights, i.e. a failure on one cable would not result in all
lights failing
at the same time. BAPE is concerned that the smaller conduits may not permit
this level
of redundancy.
• 3S
should be asked to provide information on the street lighting design and the mitigation
measures in place to address this concern.
5.
There appears to be limited access across the long stretches of Jersey barriers (concrete median)
for Police and Emergency vehicles should the need arise.
• BAPE
recommends that some provision be made to allow for access across these barriers
in the event of emergencies, and recommends that 3S be asked to address
this concern.
6.
Understandably, significant effort is being made by the contractors to allow
continued use
of the highway while construction is in progress. We are however concerned
about the
lack of safety night lighting and markings, primarily at the round-a-bouts and
major junctions.
• BAPE
recommends that measures be put in place to remedy this situation.
It
is important to bear in mind that the foregoing is based on concerns expressed
by some of our members
who pass the site from time to time, and does not constitute a full engineering
review. These
queries simply serve to underscore the primary concern BAPE has held from the
inception of
this project, namely the absence of a technical and economic feasibility study
preceding the project.
Perhaps
the time has arrived when designs for significant public projects be made
easily accessible
(e.g. via the Internet) for critical review prior to their construction. The
environmental and
social impact studies for these projects should be made similarly available.
BAPE
is mindful of its obligation to highlight issues which it believes present a
potential threat to public
safety. The design of all projects, particularly large, public infrastructure
projects, should be
critically reviewed before construction starts. One likely outcome of the
failure to ensure the project
has been planned using sound technical and financial principles is an increase
in cost beyond
the planned budget, when deficiencies must be corrected, or additional work is
forced to be
added to the scope.
THE
BARBADOS
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS
Roger
Blackman
President
– BAPE
www.bape.org
