OPINION
Why Not Ask The Chinese To Fix The Virilla
Bridge?
The bridge over the river Virilla, an
important bridge on Costa Rica's most
important highway. It can't be that this
bridge is any different than bridges around
the world. And we don't believe that there
is a lack of experts and talent in Costa
Rica, or that the public works ministry
can't import the expertise or talent if it
really is missing.
No, the only conclusion we can make is the
lack of seriousness on the part of the
Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi) and
the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y
Transportes (MOPT).
And more specifically on the shoulders of
Benjamin Sandino, director of the Conavi and
Kala González, ministra del MOPT.
The problems at the bridge has been ongoing
for more than a year. But, it hadn't been
until three weeks ago when it became the
centre of attention for the majority of
Ticos, when for the first time the westbound
lanes of the autopista General Cañas were
completely closed down for 52 consecutive
hours to repair the metal expansion plate.
That work didn't take, lasting less than 2
hours.
The Conavi began a series of partial and
complete closures each night for more than a
week and then another complete closure this
past weekend.
Conavi officials assured that the work to be
carried out would repair the bridge once and
for all.
Well, that work didn't last much longer than
the first closure. By noon the concrete
patch placed across the span of the bridge
came loose and drivers, once again, have to
swerve to avoid hitting the concrete debris
and the gaping open hole between the bridge
spans.
The autopista General Cañas is the most
important route from San José to Alajuela,
Puntarenas and Guanacaste and has a traffic
count of 70.000 vehicles daily.
The General Cañas also connects San José
with the international airport.
The alternate routes to the airport,
Alajuela and points west cannot handle the
high volume of traffic. That was clearly
evident the weekend of July 18 when traffic
on the autopista a Caldera completely
collapsed from Guachipelin, through Lindora
and Belén. The La Uruca and Heredia
alternate was the same.
A trip from La Sabana to the airport, which
takes about 20 minutes on the General Cañas,
took up to three hours on the alternate
routes.
What is the solution?
In our opinion, transportation officials
have to take this situation seriously and
not take the word of any seller knocking
that his or her system works best. It is
time to stop trying this and that and going
through a learning experience.
And time to stop confusing the public with
fancy and complex words that need a
university degree to decipher.
During our photo session of the bridge
Monday afternoon, one driver shouted the
sentiments of many "cochino govierno" (swine
government).
Here is a thought. Why not ask the Chinese
workers building the new national stadium to
fix the bridge?
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