Viaduct Collapse in Belo Horizonte kills at least 2

Yesterday's collapse of a viaduct under construction (as one of the overdue mobility projects) in World Cup host city Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais has taken at least 2 lives and caught media attention worldwide.

Not at all surprising considering the Brazilian passion for leaving everything to the last possible moment, then in the rush to complete they cut corners. I also firmly believe in most cases they also do it in order to skim money off the project funding and reduce the chance of getting caught at it, because they're now giving the public less time to scrutinize their actions.

As if the near absence of anything that those of us from the world outside would consider building standards isn't bad enough, the opportunity to use sub-standard materials and construction practices here seem to be greater than in most nations. We see it all the time here. Even when there are inspections (rare) somebody gets paid off and projects go ahead anyway.

This was a disaster that had already been announced in February of this year when the viaduct shifted 27cm. out of place. Avenida Dom Pedro I, which is one of the most heavily used thoroughfares in the city, was closed until an until an engineer from SUDECAP (Superintendència de Desenvolvimento da Capital) issued a technical report stating emphatically that "there is absolutely no risk that the viaduct will collapse". But if you think he'll ever end up behind bars, forget it - this is Brazil. If he wasn't outright taking bribes from somebody to give the statement, he was being pressured by his superiors to re-open this major corredor so as not to make traffic an absolute nightmare for the nearby Mineirão Stadium and World Cup.

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Cheers,
William James Woodward, EB Experts Team