Portugal’s road and rail company, Infraestrutura de Portugal, today announced a €13 million budget to be shared with Spain to fix the bridge that links the two countries.
The bridge was opened in 1991 and needs maintenance and rehabilitation before it deteriorates further.
The work should be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2017 and the launch of a public tender for the structural rehabilitation of the bridge specifies that the work will take not more than 18 months.
The Guadiana International Bridge that links Vila Real de Santo António and Ayamonte in Spain is subject to running repairs but now need a thorough renovation to include structural work, new security features and better lighting, some of it referred to as 'decorative.'
The project already has been approved by Portugal and Spain at the Joint Luso-Spanish Technical Commission and the cost will be shared 50:50 despite a greater proportion of the bridge being situated in Portugal.
Infraestrutura de Portugal said today that there will be 'no interruption to road traffic' but the company has a habit of making statements that later turn out to have been over-optimistic.
Completed in 1991, the Guadiana International Bridge is cable-stayed, with a deck of prestressed concrete.
Factoids:
The bridge was designed by the Portuguese Structural Engineer Professor José Luis Câncio Martins on behalf of Huarte S.A. (now Obrascón Huarte Lain) and Teixeira Duarte. The bridge is open to vehicles only. It is the third longest bridge in Portugal and one of the longest in Spain.
The bridge span is 666 metres with the distance between the two towers being 324 metres. The deck stands 20 metres above the river, allowing the navigation of deep draft ships.
The twin towers of the bridge are 95 and 96 metres tall, respectively. The tower on the Spanish side rests on an artificial island built on the riverbed, while the foundations on the Portuguese side are on land.
The bridge connects the Via do Infante de Sagres A22 motorway (Portugal) to the Autopista del Quinto Centenario A-49 Motorway (Spain), and is part of the European route E01.
