Virilla Bridge Repair Gets Go Ahead, But It
Won't Occur For Some Time To Come
The Contraloría General de la República has
authorized the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad
(CONAVI) to spend up to us$4 million dollars
to repair the now famous "platina" bridge,
the bridge over the Virilla river on the
autopista General Cañas.
With the authorization, the Conavi now has
the green light to enter into a direct
contract after it reviews at least five
different bids.
The approval does not mean that the bridge
will be repaired any time soon, as the
Conavi still has the chore of finding the
funds for the project.
Earlier this week, the Ministerio de Obras
Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) said that the
Virilla bridge repaid would happen next
year, passing the buck to the next
government.
The Virilla bridge repair has been the
centre of attention during the last couple
of months, after two separate attempts to
repair the gap between the bridge spans
failed, causing unprecedented traffic
congestion with the total closure of the
east-west direction of the highway for more
than 48 hours each time.
Several other attempts that provoked
temporary closures of the highway, also
failed.
Today, the bridge continues operating with
drivers slowing down faced with a gaping
span before them, causing congestion in the
area.
The MOPT says that bridge is safe and that
drivers driving at the posted speed limit
will not even feel it. Obviously, no one at
the MOPT has driven on the bridge.
The situation at the Virilla is not unique.
Many of the bridges around the country
suffer from a lack of maintenance. Earlier
this week the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros
y de Arquitectos (CFIA) called for the
government to declare a state of emergency
to bring attention and direct financial
resources to the state of the nation's
bridges.
However, the government has said that there
is no need for such a declaration and it is
working on problem.
The poor state of repair of the bridges is
not exclusive to old bridges, but also
new/old bridges like that on the new road
between Sabana and Alajuelita.
Traffic last night was backed up on both
side of the bridge as work crews were
installing, you guessed it, a "platina"
across the bridge to close the gap between
the spans.
The road and bridge surface is entirely new,
just having being opened at the end of
August. However, the metal bridge structure
has been in place for years, leaving many
travelling through Hatillo or Alajuelita
that there was a connection between the two
communities. |
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Current photo of the gap between the spans
of the Virilla river bridge on the autopista
Genera Cañas |
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