The Coviandina dealership calculates that, Along the 85 kilometers of the road to the Llano, there are approximately 130 points at risk, of which 35 are of greater severity. However, the amount could vary; Proof of this is that a week ago a new point was identified at kilometer 37.
To definitively repair only those 35 critical areas, the concession estimates a cost of about 2.5 billion pesos.
(You can read: Government allocates $15 billion to ‘Vías para la Paz’: these are the projects that will).
In the case of K18+600affected for a month and a half by a mass removal, Coviandina calculates that the expense It would be between 55,000 and 100,000 million pesos, although everything depends on technical studies that would determine the real value and the procedure to deal with the impact..
He Ministry of Transportation recently stated that 9,150 million pesos were allocated to address the K18 emergency, an amount that the concessionaire considers minimal and that would be reflected only in mitigation works, but not in the definitive ones that are required.
Via al Llano
“The problem is that we do not know what Invías is doing; The only thing we know is what you know: the opening of one or two lanes and that they are making terraces from the bottom up without water control. I hope it works for you”he explained Ricardo Postarini, general manager of Coviandinaduring a tour carried out this Tuesday in conjunction with the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure (CCI).
Added to this assessment of the concession was a statement from the Comptroller General, in which it is pointed out that the money allocated by the National Government is insufficient.
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While the Invías advances the work to enable one of the K18 lanes on November 15, the concessionaire Coviandina estimates that in two weeks they will finish the work they have been carrying out and which has to do with collecting the water collection hoses and fixing the earth canals built by farmers in the upper part of the mountain.
According to the concessionaire, among the causes that would have caused the damage to K18, and several of the alerts that exist throughout the corridor, are the poor use of the soil, inadequate water management and uncontrolled irrigation systems, which end up leaking into the land, in addition to the rainy season.
Via al Llano
“In 2018 and in 2023 (from Coviandina) the ANI was notified that at kilometer 18 there could be a landslide“Postarini specified.
Despite these warnings, The mayors of the region would have continued to issue construction licenses without verifying whether the area was habitable or not, according to the concession..
At the moment, There are about 25 farms around kilometer 18, so the definitive solutions include the purchase of those properties for structural work in the area.although that decision would depend on the ANI and not on the concession.
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However, the adjustments for a definitive solution could only be determined with the aforementioned studies which, according to the manager of Coviandina, “They are worth approximately 800 million pesos and would take about six months to make.”, so, for now, there would be no precise solution.
The importance of these studies was socialized by the concession in a meeting that took place this Monday and was attended by Invías. There is no estimated date to carry out these studies, but it would already be an agreement between Invías and Coviandina, in order to address what happens at kilometer 18.
Coviandina technical recommendations and warnings
“Kilometer 16 is in line with kilometer 18, and the accumulation of water in that corridor affects and burdens 18. We proposed a partial solution that has to do with drilling holes from 16, so that the water in the mountain can come out and make a terrace from top to bottom to contain it, but Invías promised to solve this impact with some work that it is carrying out.”said Postarini, manager of Coviandina.
Despite the recommendations, they say from the concession, Invías would be doing that “terrace” in the opposite direction to that suggested (in the direction of the upper part of the mountain) and would not have taken into account the drilling from K16, necessary to discharge water from the mountain and prevent it from reaching K18.
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Via al Llano
From Coviandina they warn that the work of the Invías could not be favorable if water management is not prioritized or if the rain interruptssince the overloading of the mountain could generate a new mass removal.
On the other hand, the concession indicated that, although the ANI and Invías have carried out different maintenance tasks in the last three years in the area that corresponds to them along the Bogotá – Villavicencio road, these have not been enough to avoid situations such as that of kilometer 18.
MIGUEL CASTELLANOS
Bogotá Editorial – EL TIEMPO
