Lack Of Preventive
Maintenance Cause of
Guacimal Bridge Passage;
Bridge Re-Opened Today
Passage on the bridge over the Guacimal bridge at kilometre 145 of the
Interamericana Norte
reopened today with only
one lane, giving
priority vehicles -
mainly trucks - who have
been waiting in line
since Saturday morning.
The Consejo Nacional de
Vialidad (Conavi) said
that repair work will
continue on the bridge
on the closed lane.
Yesterday, using
hydraulic jacks, work
crews were able to lift
the bridge to the road
level and begin
soldering the metal
structure.
Alejandro Molina,
executive director of
the Conavi, said that
the bridge will be
completely level with
the road surface once
the work is complete.
Saturday morning cross
sections failed and
caused the bridge to
collapse, leaving a 14
inch gap between the
bridge and the road, at
one end.
Vehicular traffic was
completed closed off
since Saturday morning,
forcing drivers to use
alternate routes to get
through the area, adding
hours to a trip between
points in Guanacaste and
Puntarenas by way of
ferry through Nicoya,
while drivers headed to
and from San José had to
use the alternate of
Cañas, Arenal, San Ramón
to get back on the
Intermaricana.
Hundreds of truckers
decided to stay put and
wait out the repairs,
while passengers on
buses made the trip over
the bridge on foot to
waiting buses on the
other end.
The Guacimal bridge was
constructed in 1945 and
reinforced to allow
heavy vehicles passage
in 1999, which is the
last day that the bridge
was repaired or saw any
preventive maintenance.
The ministra de Obras
Públicas y Transportes
(MOPT), Karla González,
said that many of the
bridges in the country
are in poor state of
repair mainly due to the
lack of funding and
preventive maintenance
by previous
administrations.
Minister González
assured that the MOPT
will carry out a
thorough inspection of
all the bridges on the
Interamericana Norte, as
it is the main route for
heavy trucks and
vehicles to and from
Guancaste and the
northern border with
Nicaragua.
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