The second collapse of the A-6 viaduct makes it even more difficult to enter Galicia, and nobody knows how to explain why
Nine days after the first collapse on the same highway, Another section of the A-6 viaduct has collapsed between León and Piedrafita.
The deputy mayor of Lugo, Rubén Arroxo, was one of the first who reported on twitter of the collapse, since he was in the area together with other councilors of the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) of the region to demand a solution and witnessed the scene live.
A construction with just 25 years of life
Concelleir @ s of the region we are in Pedrafita and right now another span of the viaduct has just fallen.
The BNG will present a motion in the plenary session of the Provincial Council to urge the State to make a speedy arrangement pic.twitter.com/aV4pa83uzi– Rubén Arroxo (@Ruben_Arroxo) June 16, 2022
The El Castro viaduct is 585 m long, is located on one of the most important communication routes between Galicia and León -the A-6 motorway- and was built just 25 years ago.
At the beginning of this month it suffered an unexpected and unprecedented first collapse in Spain: a 50-meter concrete deck fell into the voidin the Leonese municipality of Vega de Valcarce (on the border with the Galician community), traffic being immediately cut off.
Also in the Madrid direction on the adjoining viaduct, as a precaution. Fortunately, there was no personal injury.
According to the first statements of the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda after the event, the repair work that had been carried out for months on the road was not the cause, but everything points to the collapse being caused “by a hidden problem in this kilometer 431 of the A-6 that was not detected when it was decided to undertake the works”, according to El Confidencial.
After the second collapse, still no problem that has led to a recently built viaduct to collapse, although everything indicates that there is an accumulation of factors in a chain that will take time to determine.
🛣️ Our federation in #Galicia, @fegatramercalls for more transparency in the face of the collapse of the O Castro viaduct in the # A6.
Due to this incident, traffic has been diverted to the N-VI, on the border between Galicia and León. https://t.co/qe0UFcRvZf#OCastro #Fegatramer
— CETM (@CetmTransporte) June 15, 2022
Right now, in the spotlight of the investigations are both the project and the construction (both by FCC), the supply of materials and/or subsequent operations.
Nor is it ruled out that the review that gave rise to the works not detect possible defects in the structuresince these are done with non-destructive evaluation methods such as ultrasound or magneto-inductive equipment to check the state of the steel that goes inside the concrete segments that make up the construction.
in the steel yes corrosion damage was detected (early for this type of structure, which should be expected to last 100 years by law) and for this reason, works amounting to 11 million euros had been underway for months, to check the state of the beams and cables of the structure.
At the time, this viaduct was the civil engineering work with the largest economic scope in Europe, and it facilitated access to Galicia, since in addition to shortening times (on certain routes, even by half), it improved road safety.
Each kilometer of the motorway around Piedrafita cost 9 million euros on average, or what is the same, each meter of road cost 1.5 million pesetas, as it was collected in its day The voice of Galicia. Now, drivers will go back decades in time until a solution is given.
The Junta de Castilla y León has demanded that the Government of Spain resolve the problem “as soon as possible” and they have asked the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda to give explanations of what happened and clarify what the deadlines will be for recovering the structure.
