Part of Costera “Falls in” from Heavy Rains

(Acapulco, NA 23 June) Yesterday morning, around 2:00 am, approximately 100 feet of one lane of the Costera Alemán caved in as an indirect result of the heavy rains. A 40-year-old pumping substation for sewer water and storm drainage burst beneath the surface, presumably from the excess load of the heavy rainwater. This made the soil so weak, that when a Pemex fuel truck, with over 5,000 gallons of fuel, crossed over the pavement, the whole lane collapsed into the large ditch below it. The truck then turned over, complicating matters further. Police closed the lane, which is the one closest to the median, heading westbound, in the block near the Torres Gemelas and the former location of Acapulco Charlie’s. Traffic backed up for hours in both directions as a result.

Repairmen from CAPAMA were dispatched to repair the pumping station and to patch the roadway as quickly as possible. As of 1:00 pm yesterday, traffic was moving slowly in both directions, but only in one lane in each direction. Mayor Manuel Añorve Baños told the press that repairs would take about two days, working around the clock. He also said that experts were studying the remainder of the Costera to detect where similar repairs might be called for, on a preventive basis.