The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) delivered this Saturday, April 12, a mass mitigation work in the municipality of Girón, Santander. The infrastructure, with an investment of more than $ 28.7 billion, It is designed to protect more than 4,500 families residing in seven strategic sectors of the urban area.
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The intervention contemplates the construction of screens anchored with launched concrete, a technique used as a containment wall to stabilize slopes in high -risk areas. In total, 742 active anchors were installed and 106 micropiles were built, reinforcing the structure with the objective of ensuring the effectiveness of the containment system.
“The problem in Girón, Santander, with mass movements is not new. We have been seeing it decades, and today we can say that a structural work of this magnitude has been fulfilled, designed to protect lives and goods from more than 12,000 people”said Carlos Carrillo, director of UNGRD, during the official delivery ceremony.
The intervened sectors include Carolina 1 and 2, middle and high village, Eloy Valenzuela, Citadel del Oriente, Altos de la Aldea, Luis Alberto Quintero 3 and Girón balconies. These areas are located around a mountain And, for more than two decades, they have been exposed to a high risk of landslides and other land movements.
“For Girón and for the municipal administration, it is of great importance to receive these works that today gives us the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management. This is the result of an articulated work, which not only allowed hiring, but also the execution and today the formal delivery to the community. We are glad that these works can be known in detail, which will directly benefit about 12,000 people,” The mayor of Girón, Campo Elías Ramírez Padilla, pointed out.
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UNRGRD – National Unit for Disaster Risk Management
UNGRD
The work delivered corresponds to a set of 27 interventions carried out in the municipality, which make Girón in the territory with the largest number of this type of projects advanced by UNGRD throughout the country. From the entity it is emphasized that this figure reflects the institutional commitment to the mitigation of risk and the protection of the life and assets of the inhabitants.
Additionally, during the day, the work maintenance manual was delivered, a document that includes the technical and operational guidelines necessary to ensure the optimal conservation of the infrastructure over time.
“From this date, the responsibility for periodic and preventive maintenance of the work falls to the municipality, in accordance with the provisions of said manual,” AGRD spokesmen reported.
With the implementation of these containment works, it is expected to significantly reduce the threat of landslides in areas historically affected by land instability. The intervention also seeks to strengthen the municipality’s capacity to respond to natural eventswhile improving the safety of thousands of families.
The UNGRD has indicated that this intervention is part of a preventive action policy focused on reducing disaster risk in territories with complex geographical conditions, such as Girón. The screens anchored with launched concrete have been used in other regions of the country with positive results, given their ability to contain landslides in areas with unstable soils and slopes pronounced.
The monitoring of the work and its maintenance will correspond to the local administration, which must ensure the application of the technical recommendations included in the manual delivered. The national entity will also be commissioned to perform accompaniment and technical supervision when required.
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AGRD carotanque.
UNGRD
The delivery of this megaobra represents one of the most important interventions made in the Colombian East in the field of risk management. Local and national authorities agreed that the planning and execution of this type of works is essential to face the effects of climate change and the increase in extreme natural events.
During the event, it was stressed that the success of the work was possible thanks to the coordination between the UNGRD, the municipal government and the community, which actively participated in the processes of socialization, monitoring and verification of the progress of the works.
The work was designed to have a prolonged useful life, as long as the established maintenance technical guidelines are followed. Periodic supervision works will allow to detect any anomaly in the structures, allowing timely intervention in case of new threats.
According to official data, the intervened sectors presented one of the highest risk levels in the department of Santander. The execution of this project responds to a historical need of the community, which for years requested definitive solutions to the problem of landslides.
The UNGRD has reiterated that it will continue working on the execution of similar works in other municipalities of the country with geological risk conditions, within the framework of the National Disaster Risk Management System.
Paula Galeano Balaguera
Portfolio journalist
