The
Road Begins...and ends
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.
