The Road Begins…and stops
July 11 – After again more delays – as is the case with everything in this country – we finally got the permit AND the bulldozer to begin construction of the road. We have also been blessed with relatively dry weather…which helps significantly to cut the dirt out of the mountain. The road will be approximately 400 meters into the property and rise aver 100 meters. It will be 6 meters wide with water ditches cut out of both sides. It is designed to allow big trucks carrying construction materials up to the plateau. Once the road is cut out, we will then have to place 6-10 inches of riverbed rock (gravel) on top to prevent erosion and create a better gripping surface for the vehicles. This will represent more than 100 heavy trucks of road material to be delivered!
July 16 – We are stuck! After carving out the road we can no longer continue. There is a large amount of dirt remaining that is to be used for the bridge…but we don’t have the tubes. We ordered them 10 days ago from San Jose and they should have arrived 8 days ago. Today’s excuse: countrywide highway strikes. The highway transportation system is gridlocked. Drivers have blocked all highways in protest of the goverment’s attempt to impose safety checks on all cars!!! The tubes will be 1.5 meters in diameter and 8 meters long. They are used for the water to flow through. We will place them in the creek and then add about another 3-4 meters of dirt on top. So the bridge will eventually be approximately 5 meters (15 feet) above the creek.
