President Gustavo Petro announced this Sunday that The bridge that leads through a lane to the road to the Llano is ready after the avalanche in Quetame that caused 29 deaths and left this sector cut off from the interior of the country.
Ready the military bridge that we installed on the road to the plain and allows to recover a lane of the road. We began to overcome the communication emergency.
The army’s engineering battalions have acted with great efficiency.
The disaster unfortunately left 29 dead.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) July 30, 2023
The Special Brigade of Engineers of the National Army began the deployment of modular metal structures on July 23, five days after the tragedy that affected traffic on the Llano road occurred.
The installed bridge is of the ‘acrow’ type, ideal for short bridge needssince they are installed quickly and are an economical and effective option.
The bridge was built with High-strength, quality North American steeland subjected to galvanization to prevent corrosion and facilitate maintenance.
The movement of this bridge towards the road to the Llano began from the Military Fort of Tolemaida and Valledupar towards Quetame, with a team made up of 39 men and specialized machinery.
“We delivered this structure, a metallic, modular semi-permanent bridge, with a length of 54.86 meters and a carrying capacity of 52 tons that meets the requirements of the National Highway Institute,” explained General Jorge Hernández, Army Engineer Commander.
«@COL_EJERCITO in articulation with @UNGRD, @ANI_Colombia and the components of #SNGRD delivered today this semi-permanent modular bridge of 54.86 meters in length, to connect the eastern plains with the interior of the country”, General Jorge Hernández, commander @Engineers_EJC pic.twitter.com/oDJSjrwwdi
—UNGRD?? (@UNGRD) July 30, 2023
After the completion of this first bridge, the assembly of a second bridge that would be ready on August 12 and in this way restore traffic through this road corridor in both directions.
Related content: The other side of the Quetame tragedy: the million-dollar losses due to the closure of the road to Llano
These are the schedules and operation of the bridge on the road to Llano
The vehicular passage will begin in the direction Villavicencio – Bogota at 3:00 pmwith passage through kilometer 58. Passage will be allowed through the control point at Km 82 from 2:30 p.m., until 5:00 p.m.
In the sense Bogotá – Villavicencio, the passage through the orange grove toll will be allowed, at 6:00 p.m.for which the passage will be allowed at Km 35 in the El Tablón sector from 5:30 pm and until 8:15 pm
Once the passage through the bridge is open, pedestrians will not be allowed. In other words, they must use public transport or private vehicles. The passage of cyclists will not be allowed either.
The governor of Cundinamarca, Nicolás García Bustos, reported that the weather conditions are still adverse, but highlighted the possibility of reestablishing communication on the road that leads from Bogotá to Villavicencio.
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