Por Ismael Buendia 
The road 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 Development, Territorial Articulation, and Housing, Rocío Díaz, has visited the works that, 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 costly and technically complex works, aware that solutions had to be provided to prevent the residents of Capileira from being isolated.» The Minister of Development indicated that national geotechnical experts were consulted to find «the most suitable and definitive solution.» Likewise, she mentioned that a provisional detour was built to «prevent the total closure of a road that is the only connection for residents to the rest of the Alpujarra region.»
The Ministry of Development began the first intervention in April, after the heavy rains of those days, with more than 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 many places, leading to the rupture of the pavement layers and cracks with steps up to 35 centimeters deep. In this action, carried out by Sacyr conservación for 1.7 million euros, the slope of the affected slope was stabilized, and subsequently, the pavement was demolished and the road surface was restored.
Following the completion of this intervention in September, a deeper movement of the slope was detected in September. Thus, the Ministry of Development undertook a second intervention worth 2.6 million euros, awarded to Cauchil construcciones y edificaciones. These works, which are 80.2% complete, involve the construction of a screen of 65 large piles (1.2 meters in diameter and up to 24 meters deep) to provide definitive stability to the slope. Additionally, Californian drains (horizontal tubes for water drainage) were installed to channel the existing groundwater.
Due to the large size of the machinery needed to be moved and positioned on the road to carry out the containment measures, an urgent provisional detour was necessary: 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 installed, the only remaining tasks are to rebuild the transversal drainage works that have been affected, as well as to adjust the pavement. Environmental restoration measures will also be carried out by planting native species in the area, such as walnut and chestnut trees, as well as shrubs like Spanish broom, broom, and Spanish gorse.
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 Development of the Andalusian Government, Alfonso Lujano; and the territorial delegate of Development in Granada, Antonio Ayllón.