PUERTO PLATA- The MOPC, Ministry of Public Works and Communications, inaugurated last Saturday the construction work of the new bridge over the Camú River, in Cangrejos, in this district, whose work will officially begin today, by the Mar Construction Company that promises to complete the work in seven months.
This is an infrastructure project that suffered a rupture in one of its beams on April 26 of last year. Minister Deligne Ascención, along with executives from the construction company in charge, explained that work will begin today, Tuesday, when vehicular traffic will be permanently closed to allow for the dismantling of the bridge, so that the new structure can be built in the same location.
He explained that different alternatives were analyzed, but changing the location would have involved hundreds of expropriations and would not only increase the cost, but could also prolong the construction time, and that is why the decision was made to do it in the same place.
He clarified that "today we are making the announcement here, giving information about what has been done," since work had been underway in workshops regarding the metal structure that will be installed.
He explained that the construction process for the new Cangrejos bridge is projected to be completed in seven months, since the clearing process alone will take three months.
"There were three alternatives, one was that a high-voltage power line passes through there and in order to work it would be necessary to cause blackouts of ten and twelve hours throughout Puerto Plata," he said, explaining the reasons for the duration of the dismantling time.
The Minister of Public Works explained that after the dismantling of the old structure, work will begin on the abutments (the bases where the metal structures of the bridge will be placed), representing approximately 60% of the work.
He assured that the construction company Mar has guaranteed that the work will be delivered within the indicated timeframe and that it will meet all quality standards, allowing all types of vehicles to pass.
Ascención highlighted that during this process, after the failures presented by the structure of the current bridge, the MOPC built the alternate route to connect the area.
At the event, which was blessed by the Bishop of Puerto Plata, Julio César Amaro Corniel, Governor Claritza Rochtte, Senator Ginette Bournigal, and the President of the Federation of Neighborhood Councils of Puerto Plata, Oscar Núñez, also spoke.
Also present were the Deputy Minister of Public Works and Communications (MOPC), Roberto Herrera; the Mayor of the municipality of San Felipe de Puerto Plata, Diomedes Roque García; the Mayor of Sosúa, Wilfredo Olivences; the Mayor of Montellano, Chino Rojas; the executive of the construction company Mar, Soto Bermúdez; the deputy, Jhonny Medina; Brigadier General Pilot Manuel Abad García Lithgow, commander of the Puerto Plata Air Base, among others.
