Tag: infrastructure

Name that beverage!

Uruguay tap water this morning

If you said, tap water this morning, congratulations! A few hours later, the tap water has cleared up again.

We had thunderstorms starting in the wee hours yesterday, but apparently it was the flooding from the rain all day that caused the electricity to go out five or six times, for a few minutes each, much later.

Apparently 162 people were evacuated from their homes, and 9,500 houses left without power.

The potholes in front of our house are growing as a result , but at least  the road did not become a river as it did before they fixed it.

Another one bites the dust

I noted 2-1/2 years ago the improved beach access, even though the side rails had mostly gone away on the boardwalk nearest us.

I noted a year ago how the dunes had risen to their natural level, depositing a half-meter of sand on top of this boardwalk.

And, 8 months ago, how flooding had overwhelmed the same boardwalk.

collapse-rail

Today, I see that — through accident or vandalism — the rail has started to go away. We’re not in heating season, so it may not disappear (as firewood) as quickly as in March 2012.

But probably no reason to think it will be repaired.

Trash containers, over time

It has been 2-1/2 year since the trash containers appeared. And less than two years since the one on our corner was burned to the ground (for the first time).

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The spray paint on this one has mostly disappeared, showing the UV protection it offered the otherwise now-faded plastic.

trash-2

I don’t know if this resulted from rough handling or solar ultraviolet. Probably a combo. It’s not the only one, by a long shot.

No engineering needed

Just send out a crew with shovels and concrete, no engineering needed

It’s classic palm-to-the-forehead “the work how she is done in Uruguay” moment. You’ll recall we just went through a poorly thought-out repair on the corner nearest us, and seeing as elections are coming up, it was quickly fixed.

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Here’s the main thoroughfare, the bus route, a few blocks down the same street. You’ll notice in the foreground a new strip of concrete, so people turning off won’t hit potholes immediately. Instead, they’ll go one meter before hitting potholes. Eventually, but inevitably.

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You’ll notice on the other side that they made the concrete patch lower than anything surrounding it, so that it collects rainwater. As you can also see, the puddle extends into the dirt section of the road, which means the potholes will start forming with the first vehicle to drive through.

We’ll see if they’re as quick to fix this. Your guess?

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