The creation of the Register of Bridges was announced by Christos Staikouras, speaking to SKAI and the Misfits in the wake of the disasters in Thessaly. The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport reported that the railway network in Thessaly was damaged amounting to 187 million euros. At the same time, he pointed out that the resources to strengthen the stability of OAKA are secured through the Development Fund.

Register of Bridges

“We have to do checks on the country’s infrastructure, and we have launched a series of checks on the stability and durability of existing structures, whether dams or bridges. There will be a Register of Bridges in the coming months. We will know how many bridges we have, where do the bridges belong, how old are they… We don’t have a complete picture today, and that’s why you see that several of the bridges that are collapsing, also in Thessaly, had not been maintained for many decades, many decades not many years” he said characteristically.

“In the case of Thessaly after Janos, the Ministry of Infrastructure gave private individuals 140 million to make interventions in approximately 550 places in Thessaly. Of these, five bridges. Three have been completed today and two are under completion All five bridges, with the characteristics of durability which were set after Janos, endured.”

Regarding the railway network, he explained that “we have huge disasters, not only in the central railway network Athens – Thessaloniki, but also in the individual networks, such as Larissa – Volos, costing 187 million euros. The resources will be allocated through the Development Fund secured by the prime minister and the government (600 million in total for infrastructure).”

In this particular area, the entire network was destroyed, while it had recently been handed over, noted Christos Staikouras. In this particular part, the remote control system that was also certified by the Railway Regulatory Authority has been destroyed.

In terms any toll increases called on the concessionaires to take into account the current reality and the emergency situations and crises in which the public and the citizens cannot bear all the costs. “This year the concessionaires could increase tolls to 12%. This did not happen,” said the minister.

OAKA

The ministry has no involvement in the specific matter of OAKA, Mr. Staikouras clarified, except for studies that were commissioned in the past to evaluate the stability of the upper part, which is not information, it is in the Official Gazette, December 20, 2019. is captured from the ministry services that it is statically safe. It’s not information, it’s a publicly available document. “From there on there is a study by TAIPED, the study by TAIPED which reached some conclusions”.

“The Greek State has secure the resources from the Recovery Fund and Resilience so as to make the necessary interventions to strengthen the stability of the specific asset”. There is no study on OAKA in the drawer, the minister clarified.

“In any case, on the occasion of the specific asset, I would like to say something that we had highlighted as the leadership of the ministry before the floods in Thessaly. That beyond the necessity of always talking about new projects, which must now have a higher durability in relation to the past, taking climate change into account, we must also seriously deal with the existing infrastructures and their resilience”.