SANTO DOMINGO – The Dominican Port Authority (Apordom) announced the start of a preventative maintenance for tourist and fishing piers nationwide. This initiative, which covers the 16 piers built during the current administration , aims to ensure the safety and operational readiness of these essential infrastructures, as well as prevent future damage.
The program began with repairs at the Miches dock and, after completing the repairs, the technical team will continue its work at other strategic points, such as Río San Juan and Palenque , to extend to the docks of the first stage, which include Las Cañitas in Hato Mayor, Cabeza de Toro, Boca Chica, Sánchez in Samaná, Cabrera, Salina, Boca de Yuma and Luperón, among others.
Jean Luis Rodríguez , executive director of Apordom, explained the importance of this preventive maintenance program by highlighting the commitment to the safety and efficiency of port infrastructure, after stating that the program seeks to ensure that the country's tourist and fishing docks continue to be an engine of economic development for coastal communities.
"This maintenance program is the result of a nationwide operation to verify and repair damage to the various docks. During this operation, a technical team assessed the condition of each port infrastructure in order to diagnose and address the necessary repairs," a press release states.
The Dominican Port Authority reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining each dock in optimal condition , thus ensuring the safety of users and the continuity of tourism and fishing operations.
Compliance
The Dominican Port Authority, as the competent body, administers and oversees compliance and monitoring in accordance with the law, so that all structures comply with the national and international codes and regulations that are accepted and required, with the purpose of guaranteeing their good performance, as well as extending their useful life to no less than forty years.
This is why, at a technical level, it carries out superstructure connection plates structural components are correctly positioned and consolidated.
According to Juan Miguel de los Santos , engineering director at Apordom, this ongoing maintenance involves checking all metal structures to ensure they comply with the American Welding Society's structural welding and reinforcing steel codes . For this reason, "together with the contractor, we evaluate the location and types of welded splices and other requirements of the system."
Similarly, the engineering director explained that they are working on verifying and monitoring the conditions of the breakwater in terms of the performance of its core, filter and armor , determining the effect of the waves and the loads of the users according to the different types of vehicles, after its construction, to evaluate its performance.
De los Santos also stated that they are seeking to maintain a quality control for structural work, regarding the application of anti-corrosives.
