The Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Public Works, will officially dedicate the Fishtown-Harper road project Saturday. The project is a road linking Fishtown and River Gee County to Harper, Maryland County. Vice President Joseph N. Boakai will lead an array of government officials to the program.
The road dedication is part of the realization of Government’s 150 Day Action Plan under commitment put forward by the Ministry of Public Works. The Project was designed for the Rehabilitation of the Fishtown-Harper Road into an all weather laterite Road. The Rehabilitation Works were parceled into two lots tendered on International Competitive Bidding (ICB). Lot #1 was awarded to S.S.F. Entrepreneur, Inc and Lot #2 to China Henan International Group Cooperation Ltd. (CHICO). Lot #1 is 76.3 km long, commencing at Harper, Maryland County and ending at the Gee River Bridge in River Gee County. Lot #2 is 54.4 km long and commences at the Gee River Bridge and ends one kilometer beyond the City of Fishtown, River Gee County.
The rehabilitation works have incorporated safety features needed for the enhancement of safe vehicle operation. The road has been cleared of vegetation and tree encroachment; with the reduction of vertical curves, broadening of horizontal curves to accommodating limits and the installation of guardrails and signposts. Bridge Construction works were not part of the contracts due to limited funding. However, numerous drainage structures, including triple, double & single box culverts formed a major part of the drainage works.
In addition to the earthworks and cross drainage structures, the major towns along the route from Fishtown to Harper have all received storm drainage channels for conveying rain water away from the towns into environmentally acceptable catchments.
The contract for Lot #2 was awarded to CHICO on November 3, 2010. The Contractor took possession of the site on November 17, 2010 and commenced work on December 1, 2010. The duration of the works was for 8 months with the original completion time scheduled for July 31, 2011. The completion time was extended twice to a final date of January 14, 2012. However the works attained substantial completion on January 20, 2012.
Similarly, the contract for Lot #1 was awarded to S.S.F. Entrepreneur Inc. on December 18, 2010. The Contractor took possession of the site on January 3, 2010 and commenced work on January 17, 2010. The duration of the work was for 6 months with the original completion time scheduled for July 17, 2011. The completion time was extended twice to a final date of March 31, 2012. The works attained substantial completion on March 31, 2012.
Prior to the completion of the road work, Fishtown to Harper road used to be a terribly complicated zone to travel with passengers and road users taking over two week to leave from Monrovia to Harper. As it stands now, direct vehicular movement takes less than three hours which has boast the free movement of people in that region.
