Belize temple damaged by road builders

Criminal charges are being considered against a road contractor in Belize following extensive damage to a Mayan pyramid. The company has been accused of using rock from the 2,300 old Mayan pyramid as aggregate for a road project. Situated on private land the Nohmul complex is in the north of the Central American country and lies close to its border with Mexico. The company allegedly used excavators to remove rock from the 30m high historic temple with the material then being crushed for use as aggregate. Ar
May 16, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Criminal charges are being considered against a road contractor in Belize following extensive damage to a Mayan pyramid. The company has been accused of using rock from the 2,300 old Mayan pyramid as aggregate for a road project. Situated on private land the Nohmul complex is in the north of the Central American country and lies close to its border with Mexico. The company allegedly used excavators to remove rock from the 30m high historic temple with the material then being crushed for use as aggregate. Archeologists in Belize have said they are horrified at this destruction and have pointed out that the temple is well-known in the area and said it is hard to believe that the construction firm could have been unaware of its historic importance. As historic structures are protected by law in Belize the company will face charges for what at best was an extremely careless act of vandalism. Construction companies in other countries regularly have to contend with archeological artifacts and procedures are in place to ensure work can carry on while historic sites are protected. In countries with a long history of civilisation such as China, Greece, Israel, Italy, Sri Lanka and Turkey, sites of archeological importance are often found during road construction work. Strict laws ensure that these areas are not damaged however.

Related Content

  • A history lesson in private public partnerships
    February 15, 2012
    Michel Démarre gives some historical insights into public-private partnerships conceived to implement urban infrastructure projects, a concept that surprisingly dates back to as early as the 13th century!
    Read More
  • Tunnel Boom in Central and Eastern Europe
    September 15, 2015
    Following the success of the 41st World Tunnel Congress held in Croatia last May, World Highways looks at two signi_ cant projects in Slovakia and Serbia – Adriana Potts reports Central and Eastern Europe is buzzing with a number of major projects being developed - including highways, bridges and tunnels – and with many more in the pipeline. The region is expected to be highly active with plans for developing infrastructure in the next two decades, according to Davorin Koli , president of the Croatian
    Read More
  • The Lessons of the Genoa bridge collapse
    April 23, 2019
    The partial collapse of the Polcevera viaduct, better known as the Morandi Bridge, has prompted debate regarding the technical and administrative aspects of maintaining road infrastructures. We discussed it with the engineer Gabriele Camomilla, former Director of Research and Maintenance of the Società Autostrade, who coordinated the only major structural intervention performed on the bridge, carried out in the early 1990s
    Read More
  • Tackling flood damage with geosynthetics
    June 22, 2012
    Ian Fraser, Tensar International’s director of application technology, looks at the latest lessons learned from the flood-hit Workington Bridge project in Cumbria, North West England. Rarely has a disaster like the Cumbrian floods demonstrated with more clarity the benefit of designing working platforms and bridge abutments to tested performance standards, as opposed to slavishly following accepted, but often much less efficient, design norms.
    Read More

Highlighted Content