The agency continues repairing cavities and sinkholes in state roads 428 and 544, which were the result of hurricane “Nora” and the abundant rains registered in recent weeks.
The excess water that has fallen in recent weeks due to hurricane "Nora" and other storms of this season, have caused sinkholes and collapses in state highways such as 428 and 544. The damaged roadways were immediately attended to by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works (SIOP,) which has carried out cleaning, reconstruction of embankments, and replacement of old drainage systems to increase the hydraulic capacity of the highways and prevent and mitigate similar situations in the future.
The largest sinkhole, which was 25 meters long by almost 30 meters deep, was the one registered on September 1 at kilometer 90 of highway 428 El Grullo-Ciudad Guzmán, where the excess rains collapsed the previous hydraulic drainage infrastructure. It is now being replaced and expanded as part of the reconstruction of the section, which has an overall progress of 70%.
“Just the day after it collapsed, we enabled an alternate road that generated the benefit of not having to obstruct day-to-day traffic,” explained Engineer Omar Paredes Flores, General Director of Highway Infrastructure at SIOP.
To fill the sinkhole, it is expected to use 40,000 cubic meters of material, while the embankments have already been constructed and the tube that will serve as drainage was placed.
"Currently, work is being done on the structure of the base, the sub-base, and the earthworks of what will be the support structure of the new asphalt layer are being carried out," added the official.
At the same time, the agency completed the cleaning work on this same road of 73 low-intensity landslides caused by the rains.
As in the 428, the 544 Mascota-Las Palmas-Puerto Vallarta road also suffered from slides and collapses, and the maintenance is being carried out by the companies that rehabilitate state roads. Collapses have been frequent on this road in rainy storms, and in each case from the first reports the enabling of alternate crossings for light vehicles was achieved.
"The road is fully in communication with uninterrupted flow, except for a few hours in very complicated cases," said Paredes Flores.
At kilometer 77, for example, where a sinkhole was formed due to another old collapsed drainage, the progress in its replacement and repair of the section is at 70%. It is estimated that in the next two weeks this work will be completed and re-covered with asphalt.
During the last 20 days, SIOP in coordination with the state Civil Protection has supervised and attended 38 landslides of medium and high intensity in Highway 544 that have added a volume of 10,000 cubic meters.
This state agency will permanently continue to monitor these and the rest of the state roads under its charge, in order to evaluate, supervise, and act as soon as possible to avoid setbacks to users. However, it is still advised to drive with caution in the rainy season, especially at river crossings and along unstable hillsides.