Critical structures face challenge from new flooding

Two actions proposed by the head of the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Talca’s Department of Civil Engineering are to assess structural damage on site that cannot be seen with the naked eye, and to improve construction regulations to avoid such damage in the future.

For the second time in less than two months, roads and bridges in the central region have been cut due to river flooding and flooding caused by torrential rains. These events have resulted in the isolation of thousands of residents and enormous economic losses, highlighting the need to improve the security of the country’s critical infrastructure.

“What has happened recently is similar to what happened to us a few months ago, and in terms of infrastructure, the worst affected are bridges, roads, canals and reservoirs, many of which are at full capacity,” explained Miguel Ángel Arriagada, Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Talca.

The scholar assured that, in this matter, What’s important now is “mainly to do some review of the current state of our road infrastructure and see what might be compromising the safety of users.”

In addition, he said, “It is imperative to have teams go out on the ground and effectively verify the infrastructure and assess the damage. the elements beneath, and most importantly, the material being dragged by the river bed”.

future vision

Just as our nation has building codes to prevent damage from earthquakes, we should have building codes to protect against storms and floods, which are likely to happen more often due to climate change, the engineer said.

“The earthquake in Chile forced us to change regulations and make engineering in Chile more robust. One would expect something similar to what we experienced, that is, they reconsider, create professional teams to assess what happened , and strike a balance between the design and the costs available to build that infrastructure.”. Ali Gada remains.

In the same sense, he emphasized the importance of analyzing the efficiency of the country’s drainage system. “We have to take stock of how our drainage system has been developed and see how we can improve it so we can avoid situations like what we’ve experienced with road infrastructure and homes being affected.”

Likewise, the professional raised the need for a mechanism to monitor risks electronically. “If we have the possibility to promote water management elements, on the one hand, we can know the real-time situation of each canal or waterway, which will allow the country to make better decisions or be able to foresee certain situations”, as he explained, This technology has been promoted by some institutions.