The Collapse of Culverts-Arch in Several Cities around the World, Technical Arguments for Their Maintenance and a Legal Proposal for Prohibiting Their Construction in Mexico

Abstract

Construction underground pipes and underground culvertsarch (UCA) in order to transport the flow natural rivers and city’s sewage at the same time, is a practice that should be prohibited by the Mexico National Water Law (NWL). When UCA collapse, it causes severe damage to surrounding infrastructure, public and private property, and puts citizens’ lives at risk. This work presents some examples of UCA collapse incidents in several cities around the world, emphasizes how important preventive maintenance of these structures is, highlights the need to classify risk areas, and stresses the need to formulate norms and civil defense plans as article 83 of the NWL suggests. We also propose an addition to Fraction I, article 100 of the National Water Law, to protect the animal and plant life of its banks and safety of their natural runoff.