SANTO DOMINGO- The Commission for the Supervision of Public Infrastructure in the Face of Climate Change, created by decree in November of last year, is still in the evaluation stage of the country's main bridges.
Engineer Osiris de León, who chairs the commission, said yesterday that the commission is still evaluating bridges such as Juan Pablo Duarte, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Hermanos Patiño (Santiago), Mauricio Báez (San Pedro de Macorís), Winston Churchill overpass with John F. Kennedy, Salvador Estrella Sadhalá Avenue overpass with Juan Pablo Duarte and 27 de Febrero, in Santiago.
“The Commission’s work has focused first on resolving the collapse of the overpass at 27 de Febrero and Máximo Gómez because that was the biggest problem and the one that received the most attention from the population,” the geologist told El Inmobiliarioyesterday.
Engineer Osiris de León. (External source).
He is referring to the collapse that occurred on November 18 of last year at the overpass of Avenida 27 de Febrero with Máximo Gómez, which left nine dead and for which case the Commission that he heads was created.
De León stated that “having successfully resolved that problem, with a high level of structural robustness for the safety and peace of mind of society, robustness that it did not have before, we are now prioritizing the other overpasses on 27 de Febrero Avenue.”.
He reported that every two months they send a report to the president containing the results of the information gathering in the structures.
Creation
Last November, President Luis Abinader created, through decree 603-23, the Commission for the Supervision of Public Infrastructure in the Face of Climate Change, with the purpose of identifying the vulnerabilities of the main works built on places that represent a greater risk of deterioration, as a consequence of the extreme changes that climate change implies.
These public works include overpasses, tunnels, elevated sections, bridges, pedestrian bridges, slopes in critical condition, and public buildings.
Among its functions are submitting bimonthly reports to the President of the Republic, so that he may instruct the competent institution to take the corresponding corrective measures, in order to avoid possible damage.
Furthermore, it must recommend to the President of the Republic the updating, by means of a decree, of the policies for preventive and corrective technical maintenance of all public works, which establish minimums for the supervision and maintenance of public works.
In addition to Osiris de León, the Commission is made up of the National Office of Seismic Evaluation and Vulnerability of Infrastructure and Buildings (Onesvie), representatives of the Ministries of Public Works and Communications (MOPC), Housing, Habitat and Buildings (Mivhed) and the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia).
Similarly, representatives from the engineering faculty of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (Intec), Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and National University Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), and may invite to its sessions other State or private sector agencies linked to the engineering and architecture sectors and deans of their respective academies.
