The president of the Venezuelan Presidential Commission for Infrastructure Habitability and transport minister, Francisco Garcés, has announced that the second and third phases of technical building inspections are now in full swing following the conclusion of the first stage, which covered a total of 65,791 revisions of buildings and homes nationwide.
Garcés explained this Wednesday, September 30, that while the first stage has already concluded, specific requests are still being addressed, and that structures classified with yellow and red tags are undergoing in-depth revisions.
“Those structures in yellow and red are being inspected again, with a much greater level of detail,” Garcés explained in an interview with VTV, “in which a complete survey of the infrastructure is carried out, detailing exactly where the damages are, some thicknesses are measured, and this is the input for phase 3, which is for the generation of the project that will then go to the repair phase.” He further clarified that “there is no black tag.”
He highlighted that “just over 3,900 inspectors who were trained to carry out these inspections” participated in the first phase, leveraging the talent of professionals from all over the country and internationally to process the information in just over two months.
Technical guidelines for reconstruction
The minister also noted that in this new stage, the commission established specific regulations for recovery work that both public agencies and the private sector must comply with, underlining the creation of four specialized manuals that regulate intervention procedures, which are specified below:
- Manual of technical guidelines for shoring up infrastructure based on the damage it presents.
- Manual for the repair of masonry damage, specifying procedures according to crack thickness.
- Manual for structural repairs in reinforced concrete elements with slight and moderate damage, covering columns, beams, and walls.
- Manual of guidelines for the repair of reinforced concrete structures with severe damage, indicating how columns and beams are restored.
Digital control and new regulations
Garcés took the opportunity to emphasize that interventions in affected buildings must be formally reported and supervised by the competent authorities; furthermore, they must adhere to the previously explained guideline manuals.
“All repairs must be reported to the presidential commission through the accessible module, which is the app,” he explained. “In addition, when that infrastructure is going to be repaired, there is another module where the repair and follow-up are incorporated,” he added, pointing out that “all those that are going to be repaired must have projects and follow-up and must have communication through the Mayor’s Office and through the Commission.”
Venezuela: Over 6 Million Students Head Back to Class as Earthquake Recovery Continues
Similarly, the commission’s representative reported that recent earthquakes have prompted technical debates to update infrastructure emergency regulations in La Guaira state and extend them to the entire national territory.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE
From Orinoco Tribune via This RSS Feed.