The president of Brisa’s executive committee, Pires de Lima, guaranteed this Wednesday, February 25, in Parliament, that the repair work on the section of the A1 affected by the collapse of the platform near Coimbra will be completed tomorrow, less than three weeks after the incident caused by bad weather that hit the country.
Heard urgently in a parliamentary committee of the Assembly of the Republic, at Chega’s request, Pires de Lima said that the concessionaire does not assume responsibility for the collapse that occurred on the A1, near Coimbra, stressing that the origin of the incident was on the Mondego dike, which is unrelated to the road concession.
“Brisa does not manage dikes, irrigation canals, or hydraulic development projects. And although Brisa cannot comment on the adoption of measures in infrastructure that are external to its concession, it cannot also assume responsibilities that are not its own”, he said.
Pires de Lima was clear in stating that Brisa “manages road infrastructure” and not dikes or hydraulic systems, meaning it did not have information that would allow the rupture to be anticipated in the place where the viaduct passes. “Brisa manages road infrastructure. It manages the Mondego viaduct C, which, in fact, between 2023 and 2024, was subject to requalification works, part of a project that in total represented an investment of almost 5 million euros. The viaduct that Brisa manages did not suffer any structural damage”, he said to the deputies.
The manager revealed that the financial damage to the company exceeds three million euros, a value that includes emergency work and the reconstruction of the motorway platform. Even so, he guaranteed that the concessionaire will not ask for compensation from the State, in a decision that he classified as a gesture of social responsibility. “We don’t want to penalize Portuguese taxpayers,” he said.
Pires de Lima also confirmed that the repair work will be completed tomorrow, Thursday (February 26), just 15 days after the abatementhighlighting the exceptional effort made by the company and its partners. “Due to factors completely external to Brisa, a large crater was opened, but the connection between Lisbon and Porto was rebuilt in record time”, he said, assuming “pride” in the work carried out.
The executive reiterated that the company’s priority has always been to guarantee the safety of users and restore circulation as quickly as possible, without “calculating” about responsibilities or costs. After completion of the work, Brisa will request the Mobility and Transport Institute to verify safety conditions, with a view to fully reopening the subsection between Coimbra Sul and Coimbra Norte in the coming days.
“For extraordinary situations, we mobilize extraordinary means. In just a few days, more than 9 thousand tons of stone material were deposited to prevent the erosion of the landfill and protect the affected area. Every day, more than 70 workers and technicians were on site. More than 50 means were mobilized – including technical equipment and transport –, and 35 trucks traveled more than 80 thousand kilometers to transport the rocks that made up this rockfill. This was followed by work to stabilize the slab. transition and, finally, the reconstruction of the platform in the South-North direction.
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