Chongqing - Guyana’s new Demerara River Bridge opened to traffic on October 5, replacing a 1970s floating span, with the design led by TYLin International (China), a firm founded in Chongqing, China’s “Bridge Capital.”

The new Demerara River Bridge was officially opened with a grand commissioning ceremony in Guyana on Sunday, October 5, 2025. (Photo/TYLin International (China))

Approximately 2,900 meters long and with four lanes, the new bridge is situated in the capital, Georgetown. It is Guyana's largest and most technically complex transportation project to date. The bridge sits at the mouth of the Demerara River, where the waterway meets the Atlantic. 

At the inauguration, President Irfaan Ali thanked the Chinese contractor and described the bridge as a lifeline for commerce, industry, and people's daily lives, saying it will significantly expand capacity and ease congestion.

Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Yang Yang called the project a milestone of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and a potent symbol of friendship between the two countries. She said that Chinese companies had trained more than 300 local technicians, partnered with over 100 suppliers, and created thousands of jobs during the construction phase.

Guyana's new Demerara River Bridge. (Photo/TYLin International (China))

Li Ruichao, a designer at TYLin International (China) and its Overseas Development Department general manager, said the old floating bridge offered two lanes and could be restricted by wind or halted to let ships pass. "The efficiency of the new bridge is almost four times that of the old link," Li said, estimating peak travel could drop from two hours to 30 minutes.

Building a fixed span in this location required the design team to start with water before concrete. "In the rainy season, the river level can rise above parts of the ground floor of Georgetown," Li said. Because a fixed bridge adds multiple piers to the channel, the engineers modeled river flows to protect conveyance and optimized the position of supports. The mangroves along the banks were treated as part of the protection system," he said, to help dissipate energy during high water.

Beneath the waterline, the geology set a second challenge. "For the main tower, the pile length is almost 120 meters," Li said, contrasting that depth with many Chongqing projects where piles run roughly 20-30 meters. The long, large-diameter bored piles demanded heavy inspection and quality control in drilling and concreting to meet structural performance targets in the soft soils.

A third constraint came from distance. Specialized materials and equipment took three to four months to arrive by sea, Li said, forcing the team to move round by round—design, submit, review, procure, then build- to hold a compressed schedule.

Li said the tower form integrated local cultural references into the design language, citing the Demerara crown and the Amazonian lily. The aim was for a modern structure that reflected national identity while meeting technical requirements.

He added that Guyanese officials visited Chongqing to examine Chinese bridge projects before construction ramped up, which he believes strengthened confidence in both the design and implementation.

According to Chen Xiaohu, president at TYLin International (China), the Demerara project also reflects a shift in how Chinese design expertise is deployed overseas. Chen contrasted earlier decades, when international experts came to China to share large-bridge know-how, with a project he said was solely designed by Chinese engineering teams. 

Chen argued that success abroad requires three disciplines: understanding the local protocol and culture, mastering the differences between local and Chinese standards, and maintaining sustained on-site engagement. For Demerara, he said TYLin sent many batches of engineers to the site, enabling direct communication with the owner and local stakeholders.

Looking ahead, Chen said TYLin (China) has a strategy to derive 30% of revenue from overseas, with plans to establish local offices in Central Asia, the Caribbean, South America, and the Middle East. He framed the Demerara project as providing the necessary experience in building such a mega bridge in foreign countries.