A The feeling that Porto Alegre has become a construction site has become constant. Important roads are undergoing asphalt recovery at the same time, due to a recovery program launched by the capital’s city hall, with an investment of R$60 million.
O The lot with the most advanced works is the one that comprises Santana and São Manoel streets and Princesa Isabel avenue, where the old asphalt has already been removed and at least one layer of new asphalt has been installed. The contract lasts eight months.
In Santana, completion is expected by the end of November and, subsequently, painting for signage will be carried out. “On these three routes, we are working simultaneously. As there is a lot of commerce, a lot of residence and traffic, we created a schedule to do all three more or less together”, explains the secretary.
On the same lot, Coronel Neves and Doutor Murtinho streets are undergoing functional recovery. The first has already had the old asphalt removed, while the second has not yet started work. The lot should not have any major problems with the return of rain to Porto Alegre, as it does not have any ‘open front’, that is, there are no sections where the old asphalt has been removed and the new one has not yet been laid.
“Anyone who pes by can already see that the asphalt is already new. There are some problems there, a bit of traffic and also in the pavement itself. Because we put the first layer and then schedule the second layer and, sometimes, we remove the old asphalt , the rain comes, and we can’t lay the new asphalt. So there’s that ‘milled’ part we call it and it looks like holes, this caused some problems in the rain”, recognizes Garcia.
Another lot involves the streets Carlos Trein Filho, Anita Garibaldi and Silva Jardim, in which the work is also done simultaneously. This week, asphalt was laid on sections of Carlos Trein and Anita. Already in avenue Plínio Brasil Milanofrom the same batch, The works began, but did not reach the asphalting stage yet. The avenue will be restored from the height of Carrefour to the Perimetral part.
The other two lots, with contracts of one year and two months, will have more complicated works, as they include larger avenues, which are still being prepared to receive new asphalt. One of them has Avenida Manoel Elias, Avenida Sertório (section with one lane), a section of Avenida is Brasil and Rua dos Maias.
At Manoel Elias, the first layer of asphalt has already been laid towards Avenida Baltazar de Oliveira Garcia and, this Friday (3) and next week, work will focus on finishing the asphalt in this regard. Then, work will begin on the opposite side, from Avenida Baltazar de Oliveira Garcia towards Avenida Protásio Alves, the longest radial in the Capital, where recovery should take longer. “In some points, you have to dig more, not just remove the old asphalt and put in new asphalt and it takes a little longer”, explains the secretary. On Avenida Sertório and is Brasil, excavation work has already begunwhile on Rua dos Maias, work has not yet started.
Considered by the secretary to be the most complex lot among the four, the last stretch of works includes Avenida Cristóvão Colombo, as well as streets Benjamin Constant and Bernardino Silveira Pastoriza. The restoration of Cristóvão Colombo Avenue (between Barros Cal and Ramiro Barcelos Streets and between Ramiro Barcelos and Benjamin Constant Avenue) involves the removal of concrete slabs from the bus corridor, which increases service execution time, as that the concrete needs 30 to 40 days for the concrete to cure – a period in which the mixture of cement and aggregates solidifies and takes shape – and vehicles cannot travel there. In the parts that are only asphalt, work is already being done.
Only after the entire Cristóvão Colombo works are completed will work begin at Benjamin Constant, to avoid traffic problems. “The two are glued together, if we open two work fronts at the same time, we could cause a lot of traffic disruption”, says Garcia. At Pastoriza, work has not yet started.
The secretary highlights that, in addition to the contribution of R$60 million for the recovery of the 17 streets and avenues mentioned, the city hall continues with contracts with the Restinga and Sarandi plants, which have the capacity to produce up to 90 thousand tons per year together. The plants focus their work on faster services, such as filling potholes. “So, in fact, the city is a construction site, which we managed to evolve when time permits”, adds the secretary.
One of the streets that should have work done by the plants in the coming weeks is avenue Teixeira Mendes, close to Avenida Doutor Nilo Peçanha. The total recovery of the road is due to street intervention and potholes that hamper traffic. The next one will be Matias José Bins streetlocated close to Anchieta and Farroupilha schools.