Former president of the Dominican Association of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia), Teodoro Tejada reaffirms his initial statements that the deaths caused by the collapse of the retainer walls of the 27de Febrero Avenue underpass on Saturday, 18 November 2023 could have been avoided.
Tejada said an error made by the person who designed the work is the origin of the collapse. The engineering design did not consider the hydrostatic pressure at the site. He also said the “clumsy and erroneous” decision of then Minister of Public Works Diandino Peña subsequently allowed that the normal drainage of the 48 and 36 inch pipes be replaced it with drainage filters, leading to the water pressure that sent the slabs crashing down on passing vehicles on 18 November 2023.
Rosa Alcántara interviewed Tejada for her program La Verdad Ante Todo, which is broadcast on Saturdays from 7 to 8 in the morning on Rumba 98.9F.M.
Tejada disagreed with President Luis Abinader who has said the rainwater drainage problem in Greater Santo Domingo will not be resolved in the next five years. Tejada said the drainage problem has not been resolved because of the apathy of all governments.
“It is not about money; it is about priority. In all governments, there has been apathy. In the central industrial area of Santo Domingo, the storm drainage problem can be solved with RD$2 billion. Yet, governments can spend RD$60 billion, and I only pay RD$2 billion because I am not going to steal a penny nor am I going to give money to the officials,” said Tejada.
He said the RD$2 billion is enough to resolve the draining of the waters from Av. Luperón to Máximo Gómez avenues and from John F. Kennedy to George Washington avenues. He criticized that the Santo Domingo boardwalk is the only coastal boardwalk in the world that floods.
To resolve the flooding in the Evaristo Morales, Urbanización Fernández, El Millón, Las Praderas and Los Prados sectors, he proposes the interconnecting of those sectors with the storm drains built under Núñez de Cáceres Avenue in 2009.
Regarding the overpass of the 27 de Febrero with Gómez, given that the Santo Domingo Metro passes through that area, a bank of water filters can be built upstream and downstream with pipes so that it can withstand the hydrostatic pressure and avoid tragedies such as that of 18 November 2023.
Tejada criticized that the authorities took no action after the heavy rains and flooding on 4 November 2022. That event should have served as a warning.
Tejada said that Odebrecht, the Brazilian contractor, built correctly the overpasses on Avenida 27 de Febrero with Defilló, with Elvira de Mendoza, with Núñez de Cáceres and with Privada. He said the same complete bracing used on those works must be done to the overpasses of 27 de Febrero with Máximo Gómez, with Tiradentes and the one located on Las Américas Avenue, in front of the Dr. Darío Contreras trauma hospital that present the same design flaws as the construction that collapsed on 27 de Febrero.
Likewise, Tejada welcomed the formation of a commission by presidential decree to supervise infrastructure in the face of climate change. The commission is chaired by geologist Osiris de León and includes experts from the National Office for Seismic Evaluation and Vulnerability of Infrastructures and Buildings (Onesvie) from the Ministries of Public Works and the Ministry of Housing and the Codia. Likewise, Tejada suggested to President Abinader to form a surface and sanitary drainage commission. He recommended the commission should include engineers such as Luis Abot, Nelson Morrison, Julio Gil, Tony Hernández, Rubén Martínez and Bienvenido Hernández.
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Hoy
29 November 2023