February 16, 2025
Infrastructure

‘Pacifico 1’ Project Engineers Begin Recovery Work Following Landslide

The “Covipacifico” highway construction consortium announced August 14 that its engineers have begun initial work towards recovery of a 300-meters-long section of the crucial, under-construction “Pacifico 1” highway wiped out by a landslide last May.

The landslide not only destroyed the new section of highway but also wrecked a 300-meters-long section of existing highway below, blocking the traditional route between Medellin’s southern suburb of Caldas and the town of Bolombolo alongside the Cauca River.

As a result, freight traffic southwestward from Medellin toward the main Pacific port of Buenaventura has been forced to take lengthy and costly detours. Final resolution of the landslide problem is likely to take many more months.

“After the [land] mass movement that happened suddenly on May 28 that affected the existing road and the Pacifico 1 divided highway under construction, Covipacifico now works constantly and responsibly in the search for solutions that allow to recover mobility in the Sinifaná sector (PR 59 + 600 and PR 60 + 000) of Colombia Route 6003,” according to the consortium.

“Thanks to the best climatic and safety conditions that have occurred in the affected area in the last 15 days, it has been possible for specialist [engineers] to access the site in order to establish mitigation measures.

“Currently, Covipacifico through its construction contractor mobilizes the resources necessary to advance the actions recommended by the experts.

“Part of the approaches to be implemented [include] the construction of canals and drain structures for water management, critical [land-] mass management, implementation of deep drains in slopes and control structures at the top of the slope.

“Additionally, an early warning monitoring system will be implemented that will allow for timely reaction to any eventuality.

“The implementation and progress of this mitigation phase will define technical alternatives that enable removal and recomposition activities in the area, and thus seek to obtain a temporary, gradual and secure solution for [traffic] user mobility,” according to the consortium.

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