SANTO DOMINGO.-The Ministry of Public Works reported this Wednesday that a landslide has occurred on the highway section in Derrumbao, between the El Coronel bridge and the community of La Ciénaga, near the San Rafael resort, which has caused the obstruction of traffic between Enriquillo and Barahona.
According to reports, a group of armed individuals, threatening employees, entered the intake structure of the aqueduct that supplies water to the communities of Bahoruco, La Ciénaga, El Arroyo, Juan Esteban, El Quemaito and part of the municipality of Barahona. The intake was closed as a precaution against water pressure eroding the compacted soil, which is precisely what the unscrupulous individuals caused: a landslide at that point.
The unscrupulous individuals, acting as sabotage, violated the intake's closing gate, causing all the water from the intake to flood the 24" diameter pipeline. This water pressure immediately pressurized the line, causing further erosion at the point of the damage, which had already been identified as a critical point requiring intervention.
The vandalistic intervention affected the structure of the water closing gate at the intake, by abruptly forcing the control wheel of the screw conveyor.
This situation warrants the intervention of the Inapa technical team first thing Wednesday morning to repair the base of the sluice gate, in order to stop the flow of water. This will allow engineers and specialist technicians to thoroughly assess the extent of the damage caused by the erosion from this water leak, which is destabilizing the entire terrain of the affected area and, consequently, the affected section of highway.
To restore traffic, the MOPC will have to wait for Inapa technicians to control the water leak and provide working conditions for the assigned teams.
