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COSTA RICA |
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Bridge
Inspection Contract Had Been Cancelled Due
To Lack of Funds
Another contributing factor can be added to
the fatal accident last Thursday at the
Turrubares bridge, lack of money on the part
of the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y
Transportes (MOPT) to keep the bridges
around the country safe, this admitted
yesterday by former MOPT minister, Karla
González and the director of the Consejo
Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi), Alejandro
Molina.
The MOPT, at the beginning of the hired,
unveiled new inspectors that would be
responsible to keep an eye of the more than
1.300 bridges across the country.
Thier job was to check of cracks in the
pavement, damage to tension cables, railings
and signage, among other items. These
continuous checks would ensure that bridges
deemed unsafe would be closed to vehicular
traffic and wait repair.
However, as the former minister and Conavi
director admitted, there was no money by
September to continue the work of the
inspectors.
The inspectors were not employees of the
MOPT, but rather contracted employees under
contract with private companies dedicated to
road inspection and safety, costing the
government us$4.200 for each inspector.
For lack of funds, the contracts were
cancelled and the bridges were ignored.
Conavi was the responsible government agency
to pay the inspectors, which in September
did not have the money to pay the salaries,
according to Molina, who added that the
funds that were to used for the inspectors,
went to pay for emergencies like the
earthquake in Cinchona (January 8).
The lack of financings had a direct impact
on the cancelling of the inspections.
Former minister González said the hiring of
the inspectors was instituted after a report
by the Agencia de Cooperación Japonesa (JICA)
revealed that a large number of the bridges
in the country were in a bad state of
repair.
The former minister said that the inspection
had been the first initiative in the last 40
years.
Benjamín Sandino, director de Conservación
Vial del Conavi, said that the inspectors
filled out a form of the basic condition of
the bridge, the information the used by the
supervisor to determine what repair or
maintenance work was required.
Molina added that after the inspector
contract was cancelled, engineers contracted
to inspect roads were also asked to inspect
bridges. As of this week, a number of
Tránsito officials (traffic police
officials) have been given orders to inspect
a number of bridges.
Molina said that beginning in 2010, the
Conavi will have 42 new people dedicated
exclusively to the design, construction and
maintenance of bridges. |
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