Things have been pretty exciting down here.
Just in case some of you have not checked out what is happening
in our local news, I thought I would give you an update. I got these off the website
Panama-guide.com , this guy takes local news and translates it into English,
and sometimes adds his two cents:
Dec.14, 2010; The amount of rainfall this year in Panama is unprecedented, said yesterday Berta Olmedo, who oversees the management of the department of Hydro Meteorology of the Electricity Transmission Company SA (Etesa). And now this institution says the rains will not stop: in the next 24 hours additional rainfall is expected in the provinces of Panama, Colon, and Darien. Olmedo said so far this year it has rained more than usual, or what he called "historical averages." According to data from the meteorological station of Tocumen, located in the eastern sector of the province of Panama, from 1 to 12 December 265 mm of rainwater fell, while the normal amount for that period is 63.8 mm. That it to say, 315% more than expected...
We are still without running water, but have our tank!
Our water has come off and on long enough to refill our tank.
We have been "bathing" in the swimming pool even though it
has been cold and rainy..(I know that will not get any sympathy, but we had to
come home and get hot chocolate today after swimming
because it was so windy and cold! Our bodies have acclimatized
to this weather and yes-we can feel cold too..... :) )
Now check this out:
Dec.14,2010; An inspection made by the Road Commission of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (SPIA) on the road leading to the Centennial Bridge determined that poor maintenance was the cause of its collapse. "This could have been avoided," said Miriam Tejada de Solis, president of the SPIA, who on Saturday took part in the inspection, along with three other engineers of the Road Commission. According to Solis, they could detect that the road's storm drains were damaged. According to the experts, this caused the fill slope to fail, due to the constant seepage of water that could have been caused by the lack of functioning storm drains. "Until the water problem is controlled, this situation is always going to be reoccurring," said Solis, who explained that while the inspection did not have specialized equipment, their experience allows them to diagnose the critical problems observed in the lower part of the access road, where there are bumps and sharp cracks, which caused the roadway to fall apart. She said the collapse was actually a slow process, and the problem has been growing due to a lack of consistent preventative maintenance, inspection, and monitoring, and these are the consequences. The President of the SPIA clarified that the structure of the Centennial Bridge itself is stable, it is not in any danger, and there are no signs of damage to the bridge. In the opinion of the three engineers, the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) should initiate a hydraulic and geological study, because water becomes a threat to this type of construction.
Haha! I love how he says, "This could have been avoided." Ya think?
I love the editors comment:
Editor's Comment: The roadway leading to the bridge was built over landfill - dirt and rocks trucked in an dumped to fill the gap between the existing land (rocks) and the bridge. It seems obvious, even to me, that you would not want to have clogged runoff drains and large amounts of rainwater running under the road and through the dirt fill. Because, obviously, eventually it's going to erode away, right? "Maintenance" is still a dirty word in Panama. Panamanians are famous for not maintaining anything - just ride it until it fails, and then fix it. That's the way they do it here. Seriously.
Here's a picture of the road to the bridge:
We just got a notice that it will still be a few more days until the
water is running normal again. Our maid has not had ANY water at her house
for 5 days now. So we are fortunate to even get it a little.
She told me they used the last little bit yesterday out of their tank...
(I sent her home with some bottled water we had, tis the season right? ;) )
The kids have been saying,
"Hope it's back to normal when Nana and Grandpa come down!"
If not-It will add another exciting element to your trip! ;)
in our local news, I thought I would give you an update. I got these off the website
Panama-guide.com , this guy takes local news and translates it into English,
and sometimes adds his two cents:
Dec.14, 2010; The amount of rainfall this year in Panama is unprecedented, said yesterday Berta Olmedo, who oversees the management of the department of Hydro Meteorology of the Electricity Transmission Company SA (Etesa). And now this institution says the rains will not stop: in the next 24 hours additional rainfall is expected in the provinces of Panama, Colon, and Darien. Olmedo said so far this year it has rained more than usual, or what he called "historical averages." According to data from the meteorological station of Tocumen, located in the eastern sector of the province of Panama, from 1 to 12 December 265 mm of rainwater fell, while the normal amount for that period is 63.8 mm. That it to say, 315% more than expected...
We are still without running water, but have our tank!
Our water has come off and on long enough to refill our tank.
We have been "bathing" in the swimming pool even though it
has been cold and rainy..(I know that will not get any sympathy, but we had to
come home and get hot chocolate today after swimming
because it was so windy and cold! Our bodies have acclimatized
to this weather and yes-we can feel cold too..... :) )
Now check this out:
Dec.14,2010; An inspection made by the Road Commission of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (SPIA) on the road leading to the Centennial Bridge determined that poor maintenance was the cause of its collapse. "This could have been avoided," said Miriam Tejada de Solis, president of the SPIA, who on Saturday took part in the inspection, along with three other engineers of the Road Commission. According to Solis, they could detect that the road's storm drains were damaged. According to the experts, this caused the fill slope to fail, due to the constant seepage of water that could have been caused by the lack of functioning storm drains. "Until the water problem is controlled, this situation is always going to be reoccurring," said Solis, who explained that while the inspection did not have specialized equipment, their experience allows them to diagnose the critical problems observed in the lower part of the access road, where there are bumps and sharp cracks, which caused the roadway to fall apart. She said the collapse was actually a slow process, and the problem has been growing due to a lack of consistent preventative maintenance, inspection, and monitoring, and these are the consequences. The President of the SPIA clarified that the structure of the Centennial Bridge itself is stable, it is not in any danger, and there are no signs of damage to the bridge. In the opinion of the three engineers, the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) should initiate a hydraulic and geological study, because water becomes a threat to this type of construction.
Haha! I love how he says, "This could have been avoided." Ya think?
I love the editors comment:
Editor's Comment: The roadway leading to the bridge was built over landfill - dirt and rocks trucked in an dumped to fill the gap between the existing land (rocks) and the bridge. It seems obvious, even to me, that you would not want to have clogged runoff drains and large amounts of rainwater running under the road and through the dirt fill. Because, obviously, eventually it's going to erode away, right? "Maintenance" is still a dirty word in Panama. Panamanians are famous for not maintaining anything - just ride it until it fails, and then fix it. That's the way they do it here. Seriously.
Here's a picture of the road to the bridge:
We just got a notice that it will still be a few more days until the
water is running normal again. Our maid has not had ANY water at her house
for 5 days now. So we are fortunate to even get it a little.
She told me they used the last little bit yesterday out of their tank...
(I sent her home with some bottled water we had, tis the season right? ;) )
The kids have been saying,
"Hope it's back to normal when Nana and Grandpa come down!"
If not-It will add another exciting element to your trip! ;)
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