The companies and entities participating in the Las Chumberas urbanization works have agreed to carry out a series of tests after the skin of one of the walls being built in the area has fallen, before determining the reasons for the detachment and proposing a final solution. This was explained yesterday by the CEO of Muvisa, Ignacio Viciana, who stated that “it is likely that the blocks that had been placed will continue to fall in the coming days, but there is no risk of the wall detaching, in an area that has been isolated and in which it has been decided to stop work until further notice”.
Last Sunday, a breakage and subsequent detachment of the concrete blocks that make up the face and foot of said segmented wall was detected, in the extension of Volcán Fogo street with Volcán Pacaya, in Las Chumberas. Viciana explained that, from that same day, measures were taken to guarantee the security of the perimeter at all times, establishing a double fence towards the interior and maintaining a 24-hour surveillance staff.
Meanwhile, yesterday a meeting of the different agents involved in the construction was held: the construction management, the construction company, the subcontractor for the execution of the wall, the control entity of the geotechnics of the land and the managing entity Muvisa , in order to determine the next actions to be taken.
“Initially, it is expected that in the coming days a greater detachment of blocks will continue to occur. In addition, it has been possible to see that in the structural part of the system, the filling executed behind said face of blocks, based on layers of milled material and geogrid, remains stable and without risk of landslides”, Viciana indicated. From here, she explained, there are different tests of the blocks and the compacted material in the wall, some on the Island and others that need to be done on the Peninsula; and it has also been considered necessary to carry out a survey based on point clouds to study the different movements that may have occurred. In any case, the brick skin will be completely replaced on the entire surface of the wall.
Meanwhile, he indicated that surveillance of the wall will continue throughout the week and at the end of it or at the beginning of the next “the results of the tests will be known and decisions made for the complete and effective repair of the wall.”
In any case, “it has become clear that the costs of the repair will have to be borne by those responsible for this detachment and in no case will it involve a double expense of public money,” he said.
