Repair crews started work on Monday on a roughly 50-year-old storm-water culvert running beneath Digenis Akritas Avenue, one of Nicosia’s busiest thoroughfares. The culvert encloses the Vasilopotamos river, also known as the Kotsirka, and has suffered decades of corrosion to its steel reinforcement and concrete. The Nicosia District Local Government Organisation (DLGO) has not ruled out the possibility of parts of the road caving in, raising concerns over safety for the tens of thousands of vehicles that pass over the structure daily.
The project is expected to last 28 weeks in total and will be carried out in four phases, with an estimated cost of about 2.3 million euros plus VAT. The state will cover two-thirds of the expense, while the Nicosia DLGO will fund the remainder. The first phase is scheduled to run until December 4. DLGO director Konstantinos Parmaklis warned that the risk increases significantly if heavy vehicles, or those carrying heavy loads, continue to use the road. He cautioned that a section of the roadway could give way, potentially causing a vehicle to fall into the culvert below.
A technician working on the project told philenews that the reinforcement had deteriorated badly and the concrete was damaged in several places, stressing that the problem was not confined to a single spot. “All of it is dangerous. Every point is equally dangerous,” the technician said. Images released by the Nicosia DLGO show the extent of the damage inside the culvert. The technician explained that crews are first cutting holes in the roof slab to gain access. Salvageable steel will be restored, while the rest will be removed and replaced with new reinforcement before sprayed concrete is applied. Main work inside the culvert is expected to begin this week, with crumbling concrete and unsalvageable reinforcement removed before the structure is strengthened. Rain may slow progress, as much of the work will take place inside the culvert.
Nicosia DLGO president Constantinos Yiorkadjis acknowledged in recent media interviews that tens of thousands of cars pass directly over the culvert’s roof every day, making the repair a pressing safety issue. He noted that about half of the culvert has already been repaired, and work on the remaining sections must now be completed. The aim is to strengthen the walls and, above all, the roof with new reinforcement and concrete. Yiorkadjis recognised that the work will inevitably cause disruption and traffic congestion, and he asked for the public’s understanding. Given the state of the structure, he said the project “absolutely has to start and be finished.” A similar section of repairs, from Naxou Street to the Agios Antonios grocery store, was carried out a few months ago and took about three months to complete, longer than the initially expected six weeks.