The National Roadway Council (CONAVI) announced the closing Wednesday night of the “Platina” Bridge on the General Cañas Highway. Workers will repair a hole in the bridge that appeared last Friday.
The bridge, which connects San José with the province of Alajuela, will be closed from 10 p.m. on Wednesday to 5 a.m. on Thursday.
Work will continue over the weekend, and the bridge also will be closed on Saturday. It will reopen on Sunday.
CONAVI’s roadway maintenance manager, Cristian Vargas, said that studies done on the bridge concluded that workers will have to completely change a concrete panel in two lanes of the road. Repairs will take longer than expected, he said, and workers will use “higher quality materials” than previously used on the notoriously problematic bridge.
A major overhaul of the bridge over the Virilla River is planned for next year, when CONAVI will completely replace metal grids with a new concrete slab, at cost of $6 million.
Last year, María Ramírez, in charge of bridges at the Public Works and Transport Ministry, lost her job after failing to properly repair the bridge, despite spending $3.8 million.
