Comments on: Concrete-coated slopes of Caldera Highway could collapse, specialists warn

By: Drareg Namloh

Drareg Namloh — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 18:08:00 +0000

How I concur – I think of this highway, and all it’s shortcomings, when I’m driving through the mountains in British Columbia. And how the engineers have overcome huge challenges in building highways that one can safely drive 130 km/h for hours. ‘The Tico way’ is what comes to mind, when I see it done right elsewhere.

By: El Torito

El Torito — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 09:04:00 +0000

Now, the question remains, is anyone going to listen and respond to what all these experts are saying? Place your bets, folks. This road has always creeped me out to the point that (as a passenger) I’ve had to shut my eyes when we navigate certain sections of it. For those keen on an adrenaline rush, Costa Rica is the place to drive. With questionably engineered roads populated by first generation drivers, the term, “rush hour” is taken to a whole new level.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 01:20:00 +0000

jdennisg: thanks for the informative post. Its always nice when somebody with knowledge of a particular subject offers to help clarify/expose. Never been on the Caldera. I go to Flamingo/Conchal pretty regularly, but my busses seem to avoid that route. Maybe they’re onto something?

By: J. Ross Gould

J. Ross Gould — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 19:37:00 +0000

A few months after this highway was completed, I picked up my wife from the airport…she had not seen the new highway and is NOT an engineer of any designation! Driving west, her observation was, and I quote, “Who designed this? Someday, people are going to be badly injured or killed here.” What thought, planning or research went into the construction of this piece of road? It obviously presented certain challenges to the contractor yet – despite there being so many other jurisdictions in the world, such as Italy, Norway, Switzerland, British Columbia, etc. where highways are constructed through equally or more challenging terrains…I wonder if anyone went to study how modern highways are being built in elsewhere, so as to better safeguard the travelling public? I think not in this case…Set aside the danger of having the thing collapse, just driving on the highway has its challenges…with the lack of passing lanes or turn-out spots or truck run-off lanes. And the way the right lanes just suddenly end (Ceda) is unfathomable.

By: jdennisg

jdennisg — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 16:49:00 +0000

This is no news to anyone with a modicum of common civil engineering exposure. All that gunite will do is to delay the failure, and make them significantly larger, more disastrous, dangerous and probably fatal. The MOPT/CONAVI groups are like climate deniers – all the evidence is right there, and the expertise to analyze it, but they just close their eyes and party on with what they were going to do anyway. Soils engineering is not an esoteric mysterious discipline, it is a relatively precise science. It is possible to analyze and then correctly engineer solutions for construction, Why this is ignored in Costa Rica is peculiar to say the least. So we have a road for a few years…..why not build one that will last? Construction only gets more expensive in the future. And fixing things is exhorbitantly expensive, and completely avoidable.

By: DaveP

DaveP — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 15:56:00 +0000

Imagine if they did these types of studies on the public roads… Best to put all the attention on the private corps. I guess