The Minister of Public Works announces that the repairs on the collapsed retainer wall of 27 de Febrero Avenue in the capital city will take three months and cost around RD$400 million.
A section of the retainer wall collapsed during the intense rains of Saturday, 18 November, killing nine persons who were passing in their cars below.
The Ministry of Public Works explained that the first step of the process will be the drilling and construction of deep drains to relieve the hydrostatic pressure that could accumulate and exert pressure on the structure, as occurred on that tragic Saturday.
At the same time, the reinforcement of both the existing walls and the new wall to be built will be carried out through the fixation of anchor bars directly in the rock and the construction of new crowning beams that will serve as moorings for all the sections.
Finally, transverse beams in the highest sections of the side walls of the overpasses will be placed to guarantee the necessary lateral locking to avoid future collapses.
The Ministry expects to complete the work in less than 12 weeks. The works will be carried out at night to enable the use of the southern part during the day.
The Ministry of Public Works attributes the collapse to a design failure that was known when the work was completed about 25 years ago. None of the ministries that followed took action to correct the vulnerability of the underpass. It took this tragedy of nine deaths for the government to take corrective actions.
The work is being contracted to Estrella construction company, according to reports. Estrella was a subcontractor to Odebrecht. Odebrecht carried out the underpasses of the western side of the 27 de Febrero 2023 in which measures similar to these were taken to ensure the safety for passing vehicles, regardless of the weather conditions.
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Noticias SIN
6 December 2023