Last week, the 1812 Constitution Bridge was inaugurated. Located in the Bay of Cádiz, Spain, it connects the city of Cádiz with Puerto Real. This colossal engineering feat features the longest main span in Spain, measuring 540 meters.
The design of this Spanish engineering project is the work of Javier Manterola, a renowned engineer. It is 3,092 kilometers, one nearly 37 meters wide and one total height of 185 m, with the the distance between the platform and the water, which is 69 meters, becoming the the bridge with the greatest vertical clearance in Europe and the second-highest in the world.
More than 100,000 cubic meters of concrete and 70,000 metric tons of steel, and features four sections: two viaducts which provide access to Cádiz and Puerto Real, a detachable section 150 meters long, which may be used in exceptional situations where ships require a greater clearance, and a cable-stayed section measuring 1,180 meters, consisting of 61 segments and 176 struts.
The complexity of this structure is such that it has required specific construction methods, such as hoisting trolleys for the deck, which were specifically designed for this bridge. It was also tested in the wind tunnel at the Polytechnic University of Madrid to study how well vehicles are protected from the strong winds in the bay.
Its construction, which took 8 years, It has cost 511 million euros and has even had as many as more than 600 employees per day. The 1812 Constitution Bridge is the It is the longest road bridge built in Spain and ranks 53rd in the world.
