A preliminary report prepared by a technical commission appointed by the Ministry of Public Works to study the displacement of the concrete lining of the tunnel at the intersection of 27 de Febrero and Máximo Gómez avenue was released yesterday in a press conference. Group spokesman, Pedro Delgado Malagón, of the Inarsa-Tecnoamerica engineering firm said that the installation of drainage orifices on the floor of the tunnel would have averted the problem. Delgado Malagón is a former Minister of Public Works (during the President Salvador Jorge Blanco government (PRD 1982-86). He said there are no construction defects, and rather the damages are easy to find and fortuitous. He explained these were caused by the pressure of the subterranean and superficial waters due to the lack of drainage. The commission reaffirmed the solution to the tunnel fissure being implemented by the builders, Modesto Construcciones, and recommended the anchoring of the prefabricated lining to the base rock. The company is using special heavy duty drills and bolts to secure the concrete lining along the tunnel under 27 de Febrero Expressway at the Máximo Gómez Avenue intersection. The north side of the tunnel was closed to traffic last week after drainage problems resulted in a meter-wide fissure between the expressway and its intersecting tunnel. The commission was made up by engineers Diego de Moya and Christian Maluf, Cadocon; Tirso Alvarez Efres and Samuel Alvarez Fermín, Coindisa; and Pedro Delgado Malagon and Carlos Garrido Demoriza, Inarsa-Tecnoamerica. The committee assured that the underpass was built, designed and supervised by qualified technicians.
