MOSCOW, September 26 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Yuri Gulyagin has issued warnings about inadmissibility of violating the law in connection with the collapse of a highway that was built for the APEC summit, to vice governor of the Primorsky Territory Vladimir Balan and the general contractor – CEO of Pacific Bridge Construction Company Viktor Grebnev, the RF Prosecutor General’s Office said on Tuesday.
An interdepartmental meeting chaired by Deputy Prosecutor General Yuri Gulyagin that was held in Vladivostok focused on the incident.
The first landslide on the Novy Settlement – De-Friz - Sedanka – Patrokl highway, built in Vladivostok for the APEC summit, occurred on September 16. The landslide caused the displacement of rock, due to which the retaining concrete wall of the pipeline partially slid down. The inspection of the facility has confirmed that the landslide did not damage either the road surface of the Sakhalin - Khabarovsk – Vladivostok pipeline. The soil that came down the slope showered in a roadside ditch. A landslide that occurred on September 18 after Typhoon Sanba also did not cause any damage to the highway surface. About 1.5 thousand tonnes of soil have been removed in the following days from the areas of the landslides.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said that the highway collapse that occurred on June 12, causing damage amounting to more than 1.7 million roubles, was the result of violation of the town planning legislation, including the construction work in the absence of approved project documentation. “The result was not only intense destruction of the roadside, but also the danger of subsequent collapse of rock. The collapse occurred also as a result of inadequate exercise of control by the competent authorities over the road construction and state construction supervision,” the supervisory authority said.
“However, the displacement of rock and the retaining wall damage occurred again in Vladivostok on September 16 – at a section of the Novy Settlement – Fe-Friz – Sedanka – Patrokl Bay highway, and on September 18 – on another stretch of the road. An inspection is currently conducted over these facts,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.
Because of the recurrence of the collapse cases, as well as taking into account evidence of the possibility of causing damage to the life and health of road users, their property and the integrity of the road in the future, Yuri Gulyagin announced warnings to the vice governor of the Primorsky Territory and the general contractor.
The meeting participants “developed measures to ensure the proper observance of the current legislation requirements in the construction and operation of this motor road.” “In addition, measures have been taken for the exercise of the functions of the road construction customer and building control and state building supervision functions by the region’s bodies of executive authority, to ensure safety of its operation for automobile transport movement,” the Prosecutor General’s Office added.