By Chantalé Fletcher
A committee has been appointed to review the National Infrastructure Development Company (NIDCO) Limited report into the collapse of the northern carriageway of Mosquito Creek in January.
A release from the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT) on Tuesday confirmed the committee would be led by the ministry’s Chief Technical Officer and comprising senior engineers.
The ministry sought the assistance of the CAF Development Bank of Latin America to conduct an independent geotechnical assessment of the affected area through its technical assistance programme, as the independent specialist would also assist with the review of the report provided by NIDCO.
Since then, the cracks have been covered to prevent ingress of surface runoff and the earth-fill and pavement loads on the embankment were immediately reduced.
However, the area was being monitored on a daily basis by the Project Managers (NIDCO) and the FIDIC Engineer (AECOM USA).
The ministry described the completion of the investigations as “critical” given the prevailing geotechnical conditions of the soil type on the project site.
It stated, “While there have been requests for a definitive statement on causality, situations of this nature require a systemic and strategic approach that is researched and data-driven.”
The ministry added the technical team required time to investigate the prevailing issues, identify clear causality factors and develop appropriate engineering solutions moving forward.
