Click Photo to EnlargeIt rains a lot in Panama. Where does all the rain go?
I remember driving towards the city of David during one visit to Panama when the skies opened and the deluge was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Cars pulled off the road because it was impossible to see. Rivers of water were everywhere; every dip in the road was a mini-lake. Then, suddenly the rain stopped and the sun was out. Shortly, the roads were dry. Water accumulations disappeared. Everything was back to normal.
A Cuneta is a concrete trough that runs along the side of a road. They are everywhere in Panama. In North America, we have underground storm sewers. Here, rain water runs along roads and other surfaces towards strategically placed grates which lead to underground pipes which then guide the water to holding ponds or into rivers or whatever is deemed safe and convenient. In many areas of Panama, cunetas channel the water in much the same way. The photograph at the top of this post shows workers building cunetas at our Roca Milagro development near Rovira Arriba.
The photograph below shows incomplete cunetas running along the orange grove in our development. Eventually, cunetas will run along both sides of every road in our development. Can you imagine how much cement it takes to do this over miles of our internal roads?
I remember driving towards the city of David during one visit to Panama when the skies opened and the deluge was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Cars pulled off the road because it was impossible to see. Rivers of water were everywhere; every dip in the road was a mini-lake. Then, suddenly the rain stopped and the sun was out. Shortly, the roads were dry. Water accumulations disappeared. Everything was back to normal.
A Cuneta is a concrete trough that runs along the side of a road. They are everywhere in Panama. In North America, we have underground storm sewers. Here, rain water runs along roads and other surfaces towards strategically placed grates which lead to underground pipes which then guide the water to holding ponds or into rivers or whatever is deemed safe and convenient. In many areas of Panama, cunetas channel the water in much the same way. The photograph at the top of this post shows workers building cunetas at our Roca Milagro development near Rovira Arriba.
The photograph below shows incomplete cunetas running along the orange grove in our development. Eventually, cunetas will run along both sides of every road in our development. Can you imagine how much cement it takes to do this over miles of our internal roads?
Click photo to enlargeWe are fortunate at Roca Milagro to have a number of safe areas into which to channel rain water. There are two streams on our property, so some of the waters flowing through the cunetas will be directed into the streams. At one end of our property is the Rio David. Water at that end of the development will be channeled into it. There is a steep drop down to the Rio David and our intent is to create an enclosed concrete channel that will contain and direct the water and to cover it with steps leading down to the river below. The Rio David is a significant river and the water will be channeled so as to mimic the natural drainage of our land before we began development. We want everything to be as ecologically friendly and natural as is possible.
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