Construction of the 25m warm-up pool at Lilliendaal is well underway, as the government of Guyana seeks to enhance the country’s ability to host prestigious regional and international meets.
The warm-up pool, which is a prerequisite for the staging of regional and international competitions, is being built by Innovative Engineering Consultancy Services, which will install the base and decks, to be completed by March 2014.
After that, Myrtha Pools will supervise the installation of the pre-fab pool, according to Guyana’s Sport Minister Dr. Frank Anthony.
The minister also pointed out that unlike the 50m Olympic size swimming pool, which was erected on pile foundation including 110 70’ piles, the warm-up pool will be built on strip foundation.
“We need to work quickly and in a timely manner. I think some of the challenges that we experienced with this particular pool [50m pool], we’ve learnt from them and the design we’re employing here [warm-up] is slightly different. This particular pool [warm-up] would have had quite extensive piling,” the minister explained.
The minister also used the opportunity to urge the contractors to work assiduously to honour the deadline, as finishing the project on time is critical.
Managing Director of Innovative Engineering Consultancy Services, Deoraj Dalchand, said works have been progressing well on the project since the site was handed over by the sport ministry in early September.
He noted that the contract was signed on August 16, while the project was handed by the ministry on September 10. Actual work on the site began on September 15.
Meanwhile, Director of Sport Neil Kumar said alternative arrangements have been made for national swimmers who usually use the 50m Olympic sized swimming pool to train on a daily basis.
Kumar revealed that swimmers are now utilising the Colgrain and Castellani pools, an arrangement that will be in effect until the warm-up pool is completed.
