Juncos bridge swept away had no security fence

By John McPhaul

jpmchaul@gmail.com

The secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP), Eileen Vélez Vega will investigate why the bridge where a lady was swept away by the current in Juncos did not have security fences.

“We’re doing the investigation with the Highway and Transportation Authority (ACT by its Spanish acronym) at that point because yes, it’s certainly a ford. The fords are those bridges that are designed so that when the current grows the water passes over and this is one of those bridges. So I asked the director of highways for the report of that ford and we are doing the investigation of what the condition of that ford was, if it has been inspected this year,” Velez Vega said in a radio interview.

What I want to see is what steps were being taken after that inspection. All these bridges are inspected every two years or more frequently if something like happened in Fiona and these recent days,” he added.

Questioned about the state of the ford bridge, which is supposedly without fences since Hurricane Maria in 2017, Vélez Vega replied: “We are going to verify it and we are going to attend to it.

I have to tell you that it is a very sad situation, we are working with Emergency Management also in all these areas and really, it has been a weekend with many difficulties. “

On Saturday night, Leila Sierra Rohena, 47, was traveling with her vehicle, a gray Toyota Yaris of 2017 when it passed over the PR-3 bridge at kilometer 24.4 over the La Ceiba ravine in Juncos despite receiving warnings from Emergency Management personnel.

The lady’s body has not yet been recovered.