“The failures are due to the torrential rains, which greatly affected the setting of the concrete,” said Ramón Gómez, president of PINSA.
SANTO DOMINGO– The new expansion joints installed on the east side of the Duarte Bridge, which the Deputy Minister of Road Infrastructure of the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC), Mélito Santana Rincón, said cost the Dominican State approximately 62 million pesos, are showing defects just one month after being placed. Therefore, next Saturday, December 10th, from 9:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, the roadway will be closed again to repair them.
“The joints that were placed on the bridge on the east side, which are the ones that are causing problems, will be removed and replaced, but under different weather conditions, and the bridge will be closed,” explained Ramón Gómez, president of PINSA, Industrial Projects, which was in charge of their installation.
The Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) announced that next Saturday, the 10th of this month, starting at 9:00 p.m., they will completely close the Duarte Bridge to correct the failures in the expansion joints placed on the east side.
The PINSA representative regretted the situation and explained that it happened because the bridge repair continued during the storm, due to the need to complete the project.
"The failures are due to the torrential rains, which greatly affected the setting of the concrete," he said.
He said that originally the bridge should have been completely closed while the joint replacement and resurfacing work was carried out, but that only one lane was closed while the repair and joint placement work was being done.
He stated that, regarding the measures to be taken for the necessary vehicular traffic diversions following the total closure, the MOPC, Digesset and other institutions in the area will adopt the appropriate measures.
The Duarte Bridge, which connects the National District and the municipality of Santo Domingo East, has a daily traffic flow of 35,500 vehicles between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Just a month
It was just last November 2nd that the Ministry of Public Works (MOPC) inaugurated the renovated Duarte Bridge, which, in addition to replacing the expansion joints, underwent resurfacing of the asphalt, installation of new asphalt, horizontal and vertical signage, and maintenance of its railings. The total cost of the project was approximately RD$100 million, as explained by Deligne Ascención, Minister of Public Works and Communications.
"Today we are formally delivering to all citizens the completion of these works, which consisted of the total removal of the joints of the Juan Pablo Duarte bridge, the road surface and the conditioning of its railings, as well as its signage, which will be completed with the placement of studs and thermoplastic paint," declared Ascención, upon completion of the infrastructure work.
He explained that a completely renovated infrastructure was being delivered, along with the maintenance, because it will contribute not only to speeding up traffic on these roads, but also to guaranteeing and extending the useful life of one of the main road infrastructures in the Dominican Republic.
