Highways and railroads

The Post-Earthquake Investigation Committee of the Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering (TCLEE), a technical council of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) organized a team of five TCEEE members with support from ASCE. The TCLEE team performed a reconnaissance of the lifelines affected by the Mw 8.4 earthquake in southern Peru. Although the June 23, 2001 Southern Peru earthquake had a magnitude of Mw 8.4, the ground motion was low throughout the region and the affected area was a sparsely populated desert. Only the most vulnerable facilities were damaged, which unfortunately included a significant portion of Peru's highway system. Roads were particularly vulnerable due to precipitous slopes and poor subgrade (fill) material. Bridges and other highway structures also suffered damage, largely as a result of weak embankment material. About $30 million in highway damage occurred to national and local roads along the coast and in the mountains south of the epicenter. Slides and rockfalls caused disruption to rail lines. Blocked roads and inaccessibility of the rail tracks in steep canyons hampered inspection and repair.