At 10:30 a.m. on Monday traffic returned to normal on the General Cañas Highway, which connects San José with the province of Alajuela. Workers finished construction of a new drainage system that allow them to remove two Bailey bridges in place since last June, when a large sinkhole appeared in the road during heavy rains.
The National Roadway Council (CONAVI) finished the project a day ahead of schedule, after announcing last Thursday that the road would reopen on Tuesday.
The repairs were finished five months after a sinkhole measuring 3.5 meters wide and four meters deep appeared on June 26.
Damage from the sinkhole forced workers to install temporary Bailey bridges. The total cost of repairs was $3 million.
Two weeks ago, one of the temporary bridges collapsed after an 84-ton crane passed over it, leading to massive traffic jams. The highway now has six lanes open and traffic on Monday was reported to be moving smoothly.
