The lamentable state of conservation of the pier that sank on August 12, 2018 during a concert of the festival "O Marisquiño" in Vigo, it would have been detected with something as simple as a simple "visual inspection" . So crude was the testimony of one of the forensic experts this past Wednesday, when ratified in court the content of the reports that have been incorporated to the cause, which is investigated from the Court of Instruction no. 3 of the city olívica. It was enough a look at the state of conservation of the beams that supported the ride, but no one did.
According to the industrial engineer Francisco Javier de la Puente during his statement before the judge Eva Ferreiro, the main cause of the sinking of the pier was not so much on the concert as on the poor state of the turnbuckles of iron that supported the concrete surface. But since it was " elements that jump to the eye with a simple eye inspection you would have seen the problem". "The good practice it is recommended that the structures should be reviewed", added the expert, according to the judicial declaration that it has had access to ABC, "anyone who had seen the area he had noticed the damage".
The inspection is not only "advisable", but also a requirement of the Law of Public Spectacles of Galicia 10/2017, in force when the accident happened. In its article 7.1.b, requires the organizers certifying "the soundness of the structures and operation of the facilities" within the documentation which, mandatorily, must submit to the city council. And are the consistories who are empowered by this same standard to examine this documentation and verify its accuracy.
Several inspections
"For a material of this type is usually done a few levels of inspection, from an initial inspection, then visual inspections, and if we see a problem, an inspection more specific", determined that this court expert in its statement. In addition, he acknowledged not knowing "at what time you deterioration occurred" in the spring, and that "the trigger for the break given the weakness of the panels was the burden of the people [for the concert], but also would have broken with any other cargo , the same that fell a few days later without any weight".
The area had no inspection, but also maintenance, because " since the construction only made the change of the asphalt mortar " without any other task of conservation. The other expert designated by the judge María Sol López —who these days is low-for personal reasons—, the professor of Chemistry of the university of vigo Xosé Ramón Novoa, explained in his statement —which also took place this Wednesday— that the structure "has exceeded its useful life to five or six years of service", as argued in his expert report. "The structure was not appropriate for the environment where they are going to drop", as they splash in the salt water of the sea end up causing the corrosion of materials, the result of a "carbonation of concrete", according to their expertise.
"At the time that was not it was foreseeable that the length of the structure was so low , that to day of today itself was predictable." In addition, the contact area with the salt water might as well be coated or even added to the nerves of the metallic coverage of paint that would have lengthened their useful life. But "the structure did not have painting." And given that the regulations requiring periodic inspections will not be approved until 2008, and did not affect existing buildings, no one remembered the spring of the Avenues.
Novoa coincided in this respect with his colleague Francisco Javier de la Puente, who admitted that "there was nothing specific maintenance plan in this area." "In the year of the project -1992, when it was decided to implement "Open Vigo to the sea"— the rules did not exist, were only recommendations and is used this type of materials."
The Port is defendedThe owner of the premises, the Port Authority of Vigo, had already informed the court what is your policy on maintenance of the same. In a writing dated march 4, and which consists in the summary of the research, the director of the PAV, Beatriz Colunga stated that "the infrastructures that are licensed, or that by convention we agree that the PAV does not have to take care of the maintenance, must be maintained in perfect condition by the dealer or by the signer of the convention that are committed to it," and gave as an example the repairs carried out in other areas of port facilities, even to their replacement.
The sunken area, according to the Port, was first a concession from 1981 to 1997, the Real Club Náutico de Vigo, during the works of "Open Vigo to the sea" were the responsibility of the Consortium of the Zona Franca, and, in virtue of the above-mentioned convention, since 1998, the maintenance is vested in the consistory olívico, something that he abhorred the mayor, Abel Caballero, that argues that municipal liability is limited to the surface of timbers of the ride and not damage the structures that support them.
After these statements, the substitute judge Eva Ferreiro has asked the Attorney his opinion about the case.
Date Of Update: 22 September 2019, 08:01
