The Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (APETT) hopes that the findings in the investigation into Mosquito Creek partial roadway collapse be shared with them so they can add to the body of knowledge of their "indigenous engineering competency."
APETT also asked for patience, saying processes have already been in place to deal with circumstances of this nature.
The National Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (NIDCO) has launched an investigation into the partial collapse at the La Romaine site, which is under construction as part of the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin.
A statement on Wednesday signed by APETT’s honorary secretary Richard Akong referred to the highway extension as a major and outstanding item of this country’s highway infrastructure.
"Given the unique physical and environmental conditions of the current roadway coupled with its status as a highly active construction zone with heavy machinery, a failure of this nature is not necessarily a failure of engineering design, management or construction methodology," the statement said.
"However, the facts can only be known when a thorough investigation is undertaken."
The statement said the built environment is shaped by construction activities that carry inherent risks.
It said all construction contracts include an unallocated cost component known as a Contingency Sum which demonstrates that engineers can never be confident of the vagaries of natural physical or environmental circumstances that can negatively affect any construction operation.
The statement added that fortunately, the country has not yet experienced construction failures such as those that regularly occur in the most developed countries around the world, which often results in the loss of lives.
"Construction failures around the world are generally investigated with the view to provide important lessons to engineers and construction professionals. It is by such investigations and sharing of the results of the investigations that engineering knowledge is gained," the statement said.
"The nature and extent of the current roadway failure may well be an unforeseen phenomenon resulting from increasingly changing environmental conditions influencing existing complex geological and therefore geotechnical challenges."
On January 23, NIDCO announced that a "slope instability" had occurred on a section of the roadway at Mosquito Creek.
The post Engineers to NIDCO: Share findings of Mosquito Creek probe with us appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
