Are Bailey Bridges The Solution?

Two Bailey bridges have been erected and almost ready to take on the volume of traffic on Costa Rica's busiest autopista, the General Cañas.



The Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT) has once again resorted to the use of the Bailey to move traffic, though in most cases used a temporary solution, in some cases it has become a permanent one.

In the case of the General Cañas the two bridges will move two lanes of traffic westbound from San José in the area west of La Castella, while workers can repair the broken sewer pipe and the restore the road surface damage from the sink hole on Tuesday.

Work crews had to dig up to 9 metres (25 feet) to expose the broken section of sewer pipe to be replaced with a new one.

The bridges have a load capacity of 40 tons each, enough to support normal traffic, according to MOPT minister, Luis Lach.

The Policia de Tránsito will be on hand to control traffic through the area.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the concrete barriers dividing the opposite lanes was removed and a westbound lane was created from the three eastbound lanes.

As part of the plan to reduce traffic volume on the autopista, the MOPT said it will work through the weekend to temporarily enable the Coyol radial on the Bernardo Soto to connect to the San José - Caldera.

The Coyol radial is located west of the airport and is almost complete, not opening more than a year due to complications in the connection to the Bernardo Soto.

Edwin Rodríguez of the Consejo Nacional de Concesiones explained that MOPT authorities will be working with the Autopistas Del Sol for the provisional opening of the road.