QCOSTARICA – The Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed by the British during World War II for military use and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and the American military engineering units.
In Costa Rica it is use as a “temporary” permanent solution to the country’s failing road infrastructure, like in the area of Barreal de Heredia, where the two Baileys has been in use for the last eight years.
The time and heavy traffic has not been kind to the Baileys linking Barreal with La Valencia, one finally showing signs of cracking.
On Monday, PolicĂa de Tránsito closed the one of the two Bailey bridges.
Traffic through the area will continue be “regulado”, adding to the nightmare traffic conditions in this busy industrial area, until Conavi work crews make the repair, which work is supposed to start tonight (Tuesday).
The operative word is “temporary,” which in CR means permanent. There is a person in MOPT that is in charge of all of the bridges in Costa Rica…do we ever hear from him/her???? Ever? LA TROCHA???
Central American Date, the online financial reporter, just called the country an ineptocracy, meaning a place run by the inept. The Urban Dictionary describes the term as “a form of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.”