The repair works on the A-4129 road to access Capileira (Granada) have exceeded 80% completion and are expected to be completed this spring. The Ministry of Public Works, Territorial Articulation, and Housing, Rocío Díaz, has visited the works, which, with a total investment of over 4.3 million euros (4,313,528), will restore road safety to a road that suffered the consequences of last year’s torrential rains, which caused a landslide and extensive damage to this access to the municipality.
Rocío Díaz stated that «the Andalusian government is working tirelessly on expensive and technically complex works, aware that solutions had to be provided to prevent the residents of Capileira from being isolated.» The Minister of Public Works indicated that national geotechnical experts were consulted to find «the most suitable and definitive solution.» She also mentioned that a temporary detour was built to «avoid the total closure of a road that is the only connection for residents to the rest of the Alpujarra region.»
The Ministry of Public Works began the first intervention in April, after the heavy rains of those days, with over 250 liters per square meter, affected the left slope of the Poqueira Valley. The landslides caused deformations of such magnitude that the roadway fractured in multiple places, breaking the pavement layers and creating cracks with steps up to 35 centimeters deep. In this intervention, carried out by Sacyr conservation for 1.7 million euros, the slope of the affected slope was stabilized, and subsequently, the pavement was demolished and the profile was restored.
After completing this intervention in September, a deeper movement of the slope was detected in September. Thus, the Ministry of Public Works undertook a second intervention worth 2.6 million euros, awarded to Cauchil construction and buildings. These works, which are 80.2% complete, consist of building a screen of 65 large piles (1.2 meters in diameter and up to 24 meters deep) to provide definitive stability to the slope. In parallel, Californian drains (horizontal tubes for draining water) have been installed to channel existing groundwater.
Due to the large size of the machinery needed to be moved and positioned on the road to carry out containment measures, an urgent temporary detour had to be built: a new platform at a lower level than the road, which was put into service at the end of October to keep the road open to traffic while the works continued.
Once the pile screen is completed, only the transversal drainage works that have been affected need to be rebuilt, in addition to adjusting the pavement. Environmental restoration measures will also be carried out by planting native species in the area, such as walnut and chestnut trees, and shrubs like brooms, gorses, and prickly broom.
The minister was accompanied on this visit by the mayor of Capileira, José Fernando Castro; the Director General of Road Infrastructure of the Ministry of Public Works of the Andalusian Government, Alfonso Lujano; and the territorial delegate of Public Works in Granada, Antonio Ayllón.
