The federal Ministry of Transportation says more than 2,000 bridges and overpasses are badly in need of repair, but only 90 will get attention next year due to budgetary constraints.
The 90 on the repair list are “ready to collapse” if not given early attention, the ministry said.
“… if these bridge repairs are not carried out, it puts at risk their structural stability, leaving open the possibility that some will collapse and endanger the safety of bridge users, as well as resulting in traffic stoppages, causing longer and more costly commutes for motorists.”
The ministry is allocating 300 million pesos in its 2021 budget for repair of the 90 bridges, which represent only 4.9% of the 2,000 in need of repair. It is also far less than what was allocated in previous years. In 2018, the ministry spent 1.35 billion pesos to repair 129 bridges.
The proposed emergency repairs could the extend safe use of the 90 bridges for another 20 years, the ministry said.
Nearly all of Mexico’s 32 states have at least one bridge on the list of the 90 most at risk. Information about the specific location of the bridges was not provided.
- Aguascalientes and Guanajuato, one each.
- Baja California, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Puebla, Querétaro and Zacatecas, two each.
- Baja California Sur, Guerrero, Jalisco, Sinaloa and Sonora, three each.
- Durango, San Luis Potosí and Tabasco, four each.
- Tamaulipas has five.
- Michoacán, Oaxaca and Tlaxcala, six each.
- México state and Nuevo León, seven each.
- Veracruz has eight.
Highway maintenance authorities attributed the bridges’ disrepair to factors like vehicle use over time and weather, including hurricanes and earthquakes in some states.
Source: El Universal (sp)
