– Minister of Agriculture, Robert PersaudAfter months of hiccups and delays, the Hope/Dochfour Canal will finally make its way from a proposed project to actual infrastructure. Minister of Agriculture,[url=http://www.baseballgreet@#$%&/Arizona-Diamondbacks-Fernando-Rodney-Jersey/]Arizona Diamondbacks Fernando Rodney Jersey[/url], Robert Persaud told this newspaper yesterday that on Friday,[url=http://www.cheapnfljerseysmr.us@#$%&/]NFL Jerseys Outlet From China[/url], October 1,[url=http://www.baseballgreet@#$%&/Arizona-Diamondbacks-Gregor-Blanco-Jersey/]Arizona Diamondbacks Gregor Blanco Jersey[/url], the Ministry will be breaking ground on the canal.It was established that the Ministry would be undertaking the earthen portion of the works through its drainage and irrigation arm, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). NDIA will be responsible for excavating the actual canal while the civil works such as the sluices,[url=http://www.cheapnfljerseysmr.us@#$%&/]Authentic NFL Jerseys Wholesale China[/url], intake structures and bridges will be advertised to the public for contractors to tender their services.To facilitate the works,[url=http://www.baseballgreet@#$%&/Arizona-Diamondbacks-Jorge-De-La-Rosa-Jersey/]Jorge De La Rosa Jersey[/url], the Ministry had imported at least ten excavators earlier this year and now has a fleet of earth moving equipment which will be deployed to dig the more than ten-kilometer long canal.According to Persaud, the Ministry?s decision to handle this part of the project themselves was a cost cutting measure.The excavators will not only save the Ministry from paying a separate contractor to do the digging but the equipment can be used by the NDIA indefinitely as they undertake their drainage and irrigation works around the country.The Hope/Dochfour Canal is the Ministry?s $3.6B solution to the drainage issues facing East Demerara and West Berbice,[url=http://www.footlockershop.us@#$%&/Mid/]http://www.footlockershop.us@#$%&/Mid/[/url], which were found to be very vulnerable to flooding in January 2005.Persaud pointed out to Parliament in June last that after the record amounts of rainfall that the country received in January 2005 and every year since, the country has seen the water levels at the East Demerara Water Conservancy exceeding the maximum safe limit for the structure.The Minister also noted that if there had been just 6cm or a little over 2.5 inches more of rain in January 2005, the dams at the Conservancy would have given way and the damage suffered by the low-lying areas of the coast would have been measured on a much more catastrophic scale. He was at the time attempting to justify the cost and necessity of the Canal to the National Assembly.The project has been on the table for some time and a number of studies have been conducted to assess the state of the Conservancy in an effort to determine whether or not the Relief Channel was actually necessary.A draft report jointly issued by the consultants CEMCO/ SRK?N and Mott McDonald last December suggested that the proposed design ? a High Level Foreshore Discharge consisting of a shallow outfall channel and a high crested weir (dam) would be the best option to drain water out of the Conservancy.The East Demerara Water Conservancy is a water catchment system that is essentially a large reservoir fronted by an earthen dam and drained by a number of small channels which are used in times of heavy rainfall to release the water into surrounding waterways.In dry seasons the water is used for irrigation purposes in the surrounding areas most of which engage in agricultural activities,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysfactorywholesale@#$%&/]Jerseys NFL Wholesale[/url], and is a big part of the reason why farmers in the region are able to have two crops.In the report, the options for relieving the stress on the conservancy under heavy rains were laid out.There was one option that laid out a 3.5 km canal from the conservancy to the Mahaica River but this was rejected after hydrological surveys were carried out on the river showing that not only does the river have an inverse gradient (silt build up along the center of the channel) but it also has silt buildups blocking the mouth of the channel and which prevent adequate drainage of the channel during the low tides.The other option ? a 10.3km canal from the Conservancy that passes through between Hope and Douchfour and empties into the Atlantic Ocean also presented its own set of options for final drainage.At the seaward end of the Channel there may be one of two discharge options, a low level sluice and outfall structure that will cost some $319M while the other option is preferred by engineers since it will reduce the need for periodic dredging of the outfall Channel.This preferred option, however, is a high level weir and outfall which will cost approximately $635M to construct.The civil works will involve gated regulators at the Conservancy and at the Coastal end of the Channel as well as a bridge where the Channel cuts the Public Road. At the Conservancy Head, there will be a three-gate structure to aid in the discharge and retention of water from the Conservancy into the Channel. It is estimated to cost in the vicinity of $520M.When the Hope Canal crosses the East Coast Public Road at Hope/Dochfour there will be a bridge that will cost approximately $451M.