Puerto Rico engineers to propose changes to construction standards

Puerto Rico’s college of engineers and surveyors (CIAPR) will submit proposals to the government to update construction standards in the aftermath of a major hurricane.  

Last month’s Hurricane Fiona “uncovered problems that we’ve been warning about for years,” said association president Faustino González, according to local publication Primera Hora. 

Some of the issues of concern are informal construction, buildings in unsuitable places or construction work done in a rush, without following recommended guidelines. 

Fiona severely damaged numerous highways and bridges and led to large-scale power and water service cuts. According to the transportation and public works department, at least 66 highways and roads were closed due to landslides, fallen trees or transmission lines, and flooding.

The damage comes on top of that caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and a series of earthquakes in the southwest of the island.

“We agreed that we should look at the frequency of rainfall events,” said González, so that future building and infrastructure designs are made considering that torrential rain and floods will happen more often. 

Engineer Hanna Rodríguez, who oversees the risk management, emergencies and disasters commission of the college, said there were areas that were not flooded in 2017 but were with Fiona so “we must adjust the flood maps … and adjust criteria to them.”