Piles of the Mayan Train collapse in Campeche

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The workers claimed that the piles were poorly designed from the start.

Piles that had to resist two bridges of the Mayan Train did not support even the weight tests and collapsed on Route 2 that crosses the state of Campeche.

These are six piles at two different points on the route that goes from Escárcega to Calkiní and which, after the collapse last April, had to be removed and rebuilt.

“Four towers (piles) collapsed when the weight tests were done,” said a resident of San Francisco Kobén.

On the road to Castamay, another two that are currently under demolition were defeated, confirmed an engineer in charge of the project.

The workers assured that the piles were poorly designed from the beginning, so they would not support the weight of the iron.

“There were anomalies in the works, first because they did not initially give a defined outline (of the bridges), but beyond that, the piles were not well designed. The piles were bent; they have already been demolished and they are going to put new ones “, commented one of the workers to Grupo Reforma.

The layout of this section covers 6 municipalities and 31 towns in Campeche.

According to FONATUR, Section 2 projects 783 complementary works, such as 10 viaducts; 149 vehicular, pedestrian and wildlife crossings; 447 cross drainage works and 177 induced works, as well as the supply of 572 thousand 790 tons of ballast, 464 thousand 315 pieces of sleepers and 29 thousand 392 tons of rail.

In the vicinity of the city of Campeche, two bridges are being built that cross highway 180, Costera del Golfo, and highway 261, which leads to Edzná. It is at these points that the piles collapsed.

“There were six piles that collapsed, they were erected, even finished for the placement of whales where the rail was going to pass, but there was a problem with the design,” said another worker.

“Section 2 has a big problem with the technical studies; they told us first that the train would have a line and they realized that it could not be done, and they gave us another one.”

“Do you know what it means to move sleepers, rails and ballasts? They moved our route (with the issue of bridges),” explained the engineer, who preferred anonymity to avoid reprisals.

Of the total route of the Mayan Train, which comprises a total of 1,554 kilometers, 635 kilometers correspond to Campeche, that is, 40 percent of the entire journey.

Work continues on most of the tracks, stations and sub-terminals for maintenance or workshops.

“Now the tracks are being calibrated, but in an attempt to avoid further collapse of structures. There are already audits on these works,” confided a construction resident.

On April 22, local media reported the first collapse of two piles on the bridge located near the town of San Francisco Kobén, where the Maya Train will cross on its way to Xpujil, in the municipality of Calakmul.

The company in charge initially tried to hide the mishaps, but after they were published by the press, it had to admit that the piles presented technical failures and for this reason they were demolished to rebuild them.

Section 2 of the Train was modified after various residents of the center of Campeche opposed the passage of the railway and promoted various injunctions to prevent the work from crossing the community.

Now, the Mayan Train circles the state capital and passes near the Campeche Airport.

Source: Sipse