Road study · Jacmel, Haiti
A coastal road designed as a tourist route.
The road between Côtes de Fer, Bainet and Jacmel is rehabilitated as a tourist route that also serves the people who live along it. We read the landscape of each stretch, chose the places where the road opens to a view, a market or a village square, and designed the road sections for cuttings, embankments, river crossings and village crossings.
Client
Ministry of Economy and Finance, Republic of Haiti (technical execution unit)
Funder
Inter-American Development Bank, grant for the Sustainable Coastal Tourism programme (to confirm)
Team
Setec International (lead), BETA Ingénieurs Conseils (Haiti), Signes Archi, Signes Paysages
Site
Sud-Est department, Haiti: Côtes de Fer, Bainet, Jacmel
Length
About 56 km studied, plus about 32 km for the alternative route
Programme
Sustainable Coastal Tourism programme
Timeline
Awarded 2016, 7 months of study (dates to confirm)
Status
Preliminary design (APS) delivered
The site
The road climbs from the sea at Côtes de Fer, follows ridges with long views over the Caribbean, crosses rivers where it often fords them, and comes down to Jacmel. The upper route runs along the ridges, the lower route along the rocky coast and its small coves. Villages such as Blockhaus, Bainet and Côtes de Fer sit on the road, and their markets spill onto it. Jacmel’s historic centre is one that the Haitian State intends to propose for the UNESCO World Heritage list.
The challenge
Today the road is shared by vehicles, motorbikes, donkeys and people walking to market or school. It must become a safe route for them, and also one that visitors want to take, without turning into a through road that ignores the villages.
The programme
The client asked for a diagnosis of the existing road, a preliminary design and a detailed design for two itineraries, with a cost estimate and the technical basis for the works tender.
Mission of the team
The road, bridges, drainage, geotechnical and traffic studies, with the landscape study alongside, and an optional environmental impact study. Seven months of study, ending with the preliminary design.
Mission of Signes Archi
- Landscape reading of the route: about ten sequences along three route segments, from ridges to river mouths and coves
- About 25 numbered sites to improve, each with its km post: belvederes, markets, village squares, junctions and beach stops
- Block diagrams of the key sites
- Belvedere stops that double as meeting points: the view, local produce and crafts, practical information
- Four standard road situations (cutting, embankment, cut-and-fill, village crossing), each with a base solution and variants: terraces, vetiver planting, tree-lined pavements, market squares
- Market and village squares, starting with Blockhaus and the village crossings
- A 10 m road section: two 3 m lanes and two 2 m footpaths
- An option to study: a ridge road between Bainet and Côtes de Fer through Gris Gris, for agrotourism
Scope and themes: Strategy, studies and planning · Design · Technical documents and tenders · Local resources
Road situations
The road changes with the ground it crosses. For each situation we drew a base solution and variants on a 10 m section, with a pavement on each side: terraces and footpaths in cuttings, planted terraces on embankments, culverts and stone-protected banks at rivers, and market squares and tree-lined pavements in villages.
Test page. Photos, sketches and map from the project documents; credits and captions to confirm.