The contractor of the fixing of the joints at the 68-year old Duarte Bridge has tried for a third time to get the repairs right. The works were completed on Monday, 1 May 2023.
The Ministry of Public Works (MOPC) had issued a strongly worded memorandum to the company that less than a month ago supposedly had repaired the Juan Pablo Duarte bridge over the Ozama River. In this short time the expansion joints on the bridge have split open again. In March, the company had previously carried out a multimillion repair of the bridge.
The contractor, Proyectos Industriales (PINSA) has been ordered to repair their work, and the ministry has included financial and administrative sanctions. What really complicates all this is the fact that the Duarte Bridge is perhaps the major connector between the National District and East Santo Domingo and the entire eastern regions of the Dominican Republic.
Its recent closure to carry out the newest repair works seriously inconvenienced hundreds of thousands of residents of Greater Santo Domingo. The need to repair these expansion joints once again is bringing the public’s patience to an end and creating more chaos in an already chaotic traffic situation. Traffic jams that extended from the elevated portion of the 27 February Avenue were caused as drivers sought alternative ways to cross the Ozama River.
Through a press release, the MOPC announced a shuffle between two deputy ministers. Engineer Mélito Santana was sent to replace Luis Germán Bastardo as deputy minister in charge of regional coordination. German Bastardo is appointed to Santana’s position in charge of road maintenance.
The Deputy Minister of Road Maintenance is in charge of coordinating the maintenance of highways, bridges and country roads, as well as the paving of road infrastructures under the responsibility of the MOPC.
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Listin Diario
Listin Diario
2 May 2023