Caracterización de patologías asociadas a la acción de especies vegetales en una vía del occidente de la sabana de Bogotá

Abstract

The results of a descriptive investigation that sought to establish relationships between the type, nature and characteristics of various pathologies identified in flexible pavement structures and the plant species present in the vicinity of three deteriorated road sections supported on clayey subgrade, between Siberia and Tenjo, west of the Bogotá savanna. The clay materials present volumetric changes associated with the action of the roots of the plant species, which have induced water losses and increases in the suction of the interstitial water present in them, which causes irreversible deformations in the affected pathways. This problem has generated a decrease in the service capacity of the roads, and has become a negative factor with high impact for the development of the communities in the area in question. A detailed survey of the types of pathologies present was carried out using the damage manual of the PCI methodology and, simultaneously, the trees present were characterized in detail, considering their relative location with respect to the analyzed road sections. Frequency diagrams were prepared in which the type, number and size of plant species were correlated with the number and type of pathologies, in order to make inferences about the trends identified. It was found that the number of damages present associated with the action of plant species is proportional to the size of the species and their water consumption, regardless of the origin of the identified trees.