Despite being light weight, this bailey bridge in Tibás can handle a dump truck.



Transport officials expect to begin putting up a second bailey bridge on national route 5 between San Juan de Tibás and Cinco Esquinas.

Half the bridge there collapsed last week and the other half was undermined by the water in the waterway below.

Highway engineers quickly erected a bailey bridge to span the absent piece of roadway that carried traffic to Tibás. And now they plan to install a second to take pressure off the undermined section. The collapse of the bridge cut water and other utility lines.

Since then, the road has been one lane.

This is the second time this year that the bridge has been damaged. In July the section that carries San José-bound traffic suffered damage from rain.

Costa Rica is a heavy user of bailey bridges to span damaged stretches of roadway. The British created the bridges in the early 1940s to advance the war effort. The main advantage is that heavy equipment is not required to put the bridge into place. Workers just tip up the front end and roll it to bridge the damaged area.

An identical bridge was put into use on the Interamericana earlier this month when heavy rain washed away a section of the roadway.

Month will end with walk
to celebrate desire for peace


Government officials and students will mark the end of the patriotic month with a walk from the Mercado Central in San José to the Centro Nacional de Cultura Thursday. Once at the centro there will be a ceremony.

September is designated the patriotic month in Costa Rica because Sept. 15 is the Día de la Independencia.

The ministries of Cultura, Justicia and Educación are sponsoring the walk, called a Caminata por la Paz.  President Laura Chinchilla and some of her ministers are expected to attend.

The walk organizes at 8 a.m. when students from many of the downtown schools gather. And walkers step off at 8:30 a.m.


Statistics have their day
as decision-making tool


The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean has joined the celebration of World Statistics Day, which, for the first time this Oct. 20 will raise awareness of the importance of statistics in decision-making, designing national development policies and government transparency, the agency said.

World Statistics Day was established by resolution of the U.N. General Assembly in June under the theme celebrating the many achievements of official statistics, acknowledging their importance for national socio-economic development and as a basic pillar of democracy.

The U.N. resolution asserts that it is essential for countries to count with national statistics capabilities in order to produce reliable and timely statistics and indicators that may serve as the basis for informed decisions based on the core values of service, integrity and professionalism.


Job fair set for Thursday


At least nine private employers will be offering up to 350 jobs at a fair organized by the Municipalidad de San José Thursday in the Hotel Parque del Lago in Sabana Este.

Organizers said that high school graduation is a requirement.

Sought are applicants for sales, delivery, administrative assistants, call center operators, credit analysts, bank tellers, and restaurant workers, among others. The event starts at 8 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m., the municipality said.


Iwo Jima leaving Nicaragua


U.S. military experts and members of non-government organizations are leaving Bluefields, Nicaragua, after finishing up the same type of humanitarian mission they completed this month in the province of Limón.

The mission is Mission Continuing Promise 2010 and the boat is the USS Iwo Jima.  The mission brought a team of medical, dental, veterinary and engineering professionals to work alongside their Nicaraguan counterparts. There were participants from 13 nations, including Costa Rica. The visit  began Sept. 16 and lasted nine days.

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