Author : Andrés Felipe Ramos Gámez
The passage of heavy vehicles is only authorized by the Curva del Diablo, according to the municipal administration, by the La Florida bridge there are permanent controls.
To enforce the restriction, surveillance operations are carried out in the structure and thus prevent it from collapsing.
He Florida bridgewhich connects the center of Armenia with the road that leads to Calarcá, it is disabled for the passage of heavy vehiclesa situation that led the mayor’s office to implement surveillance operations to enforce the restriction.
And it is that, after the collapse, last Wednesday, of the El Alambrado bridge, which communicated Valle del Cauca with Quindío, the alarms went off and the reviews and monitoring began, since Much of the heavy traffic must enter the capital of Quindío in order to continue towards the center of the country.
According to the mayor José Manuel Ríos Morales, The passage of heavy trucks over the La Florida bridge is unauthorized due to the static load tests that were carried out on December 16, 17 and 18, 2021.
“When this procedure was carried out, it was tested with 5 3-axle trucks, the objective was to verify the resistance of the structure and thus define if it had all the conditions to be transited.”, expressed the president.
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The passage through La Florida is key because it connects Armenia and Calarcá, that is, it leads to the La Línea tunnel to reach Ibagué and Bogotáso the given order is that the operations are maintained until the passage through El Alambrado is enabled again.
“Surveillance in Florida is permanent by the Ministry of Transit and Transport of Armenia, SettaSecretary of Government and Coexistence, Secretary of Infrastructure, the National Army, in order to guarantee that heavy vehicles do not transit, ”said the mayor.
However, The transit of heavy vehicles is authorized through the road known as the Curva del Diablo. “For this, last Wednesday, April 12, temporary maintenance work was carried out in order to give guarantees to those who must travel through the area.”
Vibration
In any case, to find out the current state of the La Florida bridge, this Friday a group of experts reviewed the structure and determined that yes it can be transited.
In this regard, the Secretary of Infrastructure, Claudia Milena Arenas Agudeloadmitted that Annoying vibrations have occurred on the bridge that were reported by passers-by and drivers, but he clarified that they do not compromise safety. “The deflection within the test was 15.63 millimeters and, as established by the Colombian Bridge Code, Florida meets the requirements for its use”.
However, The official noted that a specialist recommended, taking into account the time elapsed since the last load test, which is less than 2 years, to carry out an inspection.
“The inspection was carried out this Friday by the specialist who is part of the audit team hired for the construction of the bridge on 19 north avenue, likewise a study of the structure was carried out on Bolívar avenue and 26 street sector of La Cejita”, indicated Arenas Agudelo.
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income to the city
On the other hand, the mayor’s office reported that there are also constant operations at the entrances to the city: such as the road that comes from Montenegro, Chagualá through Calarcá and in the El Edén airport sector through La Tebaida.
Daniel Jaime Castaño CalderonSetta holder, told NEW CHRONICLE QUINDÍO that since last Wednesday monitoring has been carried out with the agents. “For possible closures and controls, there is also a Highway Police. We are verifying heavy vehicles, reviewing the origin and destination of the cargo they transportto be able to establish if they really do come to the city or to Montenegro, Quimbaya, La Tebaida and other neighboring towns that really force them to go through Armenia, that is, they are followed up”.
If what they are looking for is the way to pass, then we proceed to make them return to the alternate route: “So far we have not had any complications in this regard.”
The mayor’s office recalled that there is a total closure of the road between La Paila and Calarcá, Corozal-Caicedonia sector in Valle del Cauca. Take the alternate routes, if you come from the valley towards La Línea: La Paila-Zarzal-Cartago-Pereira-Calarcá. If you come from La Línea to Valle del Cauca: Calarcá-Pereira-Cartago-Zarzal.
