Sopocachi: 3 reasons delay works on the viaduct for 5 months

Luis Escobar / La Paz

The Belisario Salinas de Sopocachi viaduct was due to be delivered in October of last year. The Mayor’s Office indicated that the work will be inaugurated in March, five months later than planned. He warned that the pandemic, the rains and Epsas caused the delay. The La Paz water company denied such responsibility, stated that the commune could continue with the work and explained that it is waiting for a meeting with the mayor.

“We hope that this week we reach a small agreement with Epsas, which I ask you to please and I tell you that it is delaying the completion of the viaduct. We hope that Epsas is understandable. A pipe was imported to make the canalization from outside, I hope that this goes ahead”, said yesterday the mayor of La Paz, Iván Arias.

The inspector of the water company, Gonzalo Iraizos, replied: “Don’t lie, or else call me and hold a joint meeting to find out who is right. I am with reason and legality, ”he said.

The Belisario Salinas street viaduct is 80% complete and the Mayor’s Office announced its delivery by the end of March, five months after the deadline established with the company. The work will unite Arce and Sánchez Lima avenues, and will also avoid passing through 6 de Agosto and 20 de Octubre avenues. In this way, the time it takes for vehicles to go from one point to another will be reduced from eight to four minutes and more during peak hours.

The secretary of public infrastructure, Boris Bacarreza, said that after completing the tunnel, the replacement and renovation of the drinking water, sanitary and storm sewer systems will be carried out. It will be one of the last steps to finish the work.

“On these issues, it was necessary to coordinate with Epsas because it is their competence. A design was worked on that requires your approval and it just arrived after a long wait, ”he said.

With this approval, according to the official, the contracting company must proceed with the purchase abroad of materials and pipes. “That takes time. Not only to make the request, but for production and shipping to Bolivia. It’s a major issue that held us back,” he said.

Bacarreza indicated that Epsas must make the interconnections from the old to the new system. “We hope that in the course of the next few days we can have the support of Epsas and meet the deadlines until the end of March.”

The director of special designs of the Mayor’s Office, Mauricio Sagárnaga, explained that the new drainage system will have high-capacity 800-millimeter-diameter pipes that will prevent overflows in the sewers. “This new system will reduce this problem that the area has,” he assured.

Reply to Epsas

The controller of the La Paz water company, Gonzalo Iraizos, denied being responsible for the delays in the execution of the works in the Sopocachi center. “The Mayor’s Office has no reason to hold Epsas responsible for the delays. It is a project that they have carried out, we had the sanitary, rainwater and drinking water sewage system”, he said and assured that the commune should only leave the systems as they correspond.

Iraizos clarified that the commune only asked what type of pipe to use and that the company made such a recommendation. “We, with the Mayor’s Office, do not even have a signed agreement to say that it was delayed due to our fault. A month ago they asked me to sign an agreement. (In it) I would establish what their competences are and what ours are. That document just came to us. Now they use it to justify themselves, to claim that it is our responsibility,” he explained.

According to the auditor, the Mayor’s Office could execute the project without Epsas interceding and can continue the work without signing any agreement. “They don’t need us. (When the works are finished) the water and sewage system should be transferred because that place already had service, ”he said.

Iraizos claimed that one of Arias’ advisers left him waiting in his office. “The Mayor’s Office, in the end, wants to clean up its responsibility. One of the mayor’s advisers called me to discuss this issue over the weekend. I was waiting for him at noon (yesterday) and he didn’t show up. We will always be willing to collaborate for the benefit of the population”, he said.

Other delays

The secretary of public infrastructure, Boris Bacarreza, reported that another of the delays in the process of executing the viaduct was the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. “The contract was for 20 months of execution and the project began in 2020. It did not start before. There was a delay due to the harsh conditions of the pandemic, a time when we expected to finish the approvals with Epsas and it could not happen, ”he said.

As a third cause, due to the rains, the works could not advance. To make up for lost time, the Mayor’s Office asked the neighbors for authorization to continue the work until midnight and not reach the rainy season with open excavations. “Unfortunately, people did not give their consent. That caused the project to not be more agile,” he said.

There was a delay of the work due to the pandemic