La penúltima curva de Paposo. Agentividad técnica, social e histórica de una infraestructura vial

Abstract

This article studies the penultimate curve of the slope that connects the Paposo coast with the inland plateau of the Atacama Desert. In historical terms, the route of the curve was examined since its creation in 1870, showing how it is maintained while the roads change, at the pace of mining booms and slumps. In terms of materialities, different mortuary monuments (or “animitas”) that populate the Paposo slope were modeled, dated, and identified, revealing the material dimension and daily practices that animate the curve. This data recording made it possible to observe an exponential increase in accidents after the asphalting of the road in 2010. Thus, from a legal, media and administrative point of view, through the various accidents, the curve adopts an agency of its own. The media coverage of the "Tur bus tragedy" in 2019 shows the tensions of this road infrastructure, subject to permanent negotiations between budgetary, political, social, and mechanical forces that shape it. The study of the Paposo curve allows therefore to complexify the relationship between curve and road, showing the curve's own agency: that is why curves have names and roads do not.