HSBC Begins Selling Quick Pass For San Jose
-Caldera Highway
China to Strengthen
Friendly Ties with Costa Rica
Nicaragua Claims Full Sovereignty Over San Juan River
Corruption
Trial May Derails Calderón's Presidential
Aspirations
2.500 Jobs
Up For Grabs At Expoempleo This Weekend
Two Nicoya Bridges Are Seeing Improvements
Two Nicoya Bridges Are Seeing Improvements
(InfoWebPress) – The Ministry of
Transportation and Public Infrastructure (MOPT)
announced that it will invest close to $1.1
billion colones (around $2 million) to fix
four bridges in various parts of the
country, as part of an ongoing program to
improve road infrastructure by the
ministry’s Public Works Division.
Two of the bridges that will benefit from
this investment are located in Nicoya and
are key both to local transportation for
commerce and for tourism in the peninsula.
The other two bridges (work on one of them
has concluded) are located in San Ramon and
San Carlos (Alajuela province).
According to MOPT Vice Minister Dr. Pedro
Castro, in Guanacaste crews are working on
bridges over the Perico and Grande rivers at
the entrance to the boulevard in Nicoya,
near the city’s Anexion Hospital. In the
first case, the 12-meter-long structure will
be expanded to four lanes, for a total width
of 21.65 meters.
This bridge will have a divider in the
middle, separating traffic moving in both
directions. It will also have a bicycle lane
and a sidewalk for pedestrians, due to the
urban characteristics of the bridge’s
location and to protect both bicyclists and
people crossing the river on foot. Total
investment in this particular bridge will be
228.3 million colones.
The Perico River bridge is close to being
finished. The main structure has already
been erected, while additional works such as
access to the bridge and rainwater drainage
will be done shortly. The bridge is expected
to be completed in the next few weeks.
Regarding the bridge of Grande River, Castro
said the project will cost some 393 million
colones. The bridge will 25 meters long and
25.83 meters wide, that is, it will also
have four lanes for vehicular traffic as
well as a 2.4-meter-wide bicycle lane and
sidewalks. It will include safety features
such as guardrails to separate automobiles
from pedestrians.
Work on this river is about 40 percent
completed. Because vehicular traffic on the
old bridge cannot be completely halted,
crews are working two lanes at a time. Right
now, the pillars and foundation have been
built, and workers are assembling the metal
encasing where the concrete floor will be
poured.
Concrete will be poured in early March, and
crews will have to wait 22 days for it to
cure before it can be used. The next two
lanes will be constructed after that.
As part of these works, in the past few
weeks MOPT workers with help from the Costa
Rican Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) moved
all water lines supplying the entire Nicoya
canton. In the next few days, workers will
need to relocate rainwater drainage and
sewer pipes for the area.
Work on the Grande River bridge is expected
to be completed by May. All of these works
are done during the dry season to make more
efficient use of personnel and resources and
complete projects faster. |
