December bridge closing

Users of the Bridge of the Americas expressed their displeasure at the repairs that are being made at night by the Ministry of Public Works (MOP).

 It is unfortunate that these repairs  are beginning  in December, when traffic is at its  heaviest to and from Panama City.

Sion Atencio, coordinator of the Infrastructure Commission of the College of Civil Engineers, stressed that the type of work being done is not suitable for this time of year.  He also said that there is no traffic plan for the area, which causes the congestion of vehicles to increase before reaching the bridge of the Americas.

On the other hand, an other expert, who is also part of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (SPIA), said that the area on the bridge where vehicles circulate is in need of  "total repair" and not "cosmetic"  repairs as are being done now.

In October the SPIA and the MOP made a tour of the bridge of the Americas, due to the anomalies presented by the road infrastructure, which had recently been refurbished at a cost of more than $70 million.

MOP  says that the work will take at least four to five weeks,, taking into account that the work will be suspended from December 23rd till the first week in January.

Finally, it was clarified that these repairs will not represent any cost for the State, since they are included in the guarantee for the project that was concluded in mid-2017 by the company MCM Global.

These closures are scheduled at night, after 10:00 pm