National road company, Infraestruturas de Portugal, says it has made progress during the past week with the refurbishment of the bridge over the Almargem river in Tavira.
Work on the EN125 bridge should be completed between the end of January and the beginning of February next year.
The work was classified as ‘urgent’ after a recent inspection showed severe degradation, leaving the bridge at risk of collapse.
The structural reinforcement of the bridge is necessary as well as resurfacing and waterproofing of the bridge and its access areas, as well as repairing fractured concrete and the replacement of expansion joints.
The bridge will be painted, the walkways will be improved and the drainage system will be repaired.
The work will be carried out in two stages, so that one of the lanes always remains open to alternate traffic.
The work is budgeted at €500 thousand and is part of the emergency repair work to the EN125 eastern which included some resurfacing of the most damaged sections of the EN125 between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António, which was completed earlier this summer.
Had there not been such a litany of complaints about the road surface of the EN125 eastern section, prompting emergency repair work earlier this year, this Tavira bridge might well have collapsed. Had Infraestruturas de Portugal already planned to carry out essential repairs, it is unfair to have paid for this out of the measly budget allocation of €1 million.
The Secretary of State for Planning, Guilherme d'Oliveira Martins, said in April 2018, that the delay in the EN125 major upgrade work was due to "the very complex renegotiation of the sub-concession Rotas do Algarve Litoral started by the previous Government, which removed this section of the responsibilities of the sub-concessionaire, which led to an amendment of the contract."
In normal-speak, this means the full upgrade of the EN125 eastern section is delayed, more so after the Court of Auditors refused the contract and budget, to upgrade the road.
This major contract, similar to the work on the upgraded EN125 western section, was awarded in 2017 and again in 2018. Earlier, in 2016, 2017 and 2018, schedules were presented but work was not started. Work still has not started and the politicians' excuses are becoming more fanciful.
