The Rande Bridge is part of the Atlantic Highway; it connects La Coruña and Vigo in Galicia, crossing the Vigo estuary, and is one of the most iconic structures in Galicia and throughout Spain.
The The structure is 1,560 meters long and consists of a central bridge metallic, braced with two fan-shaped planes, and across two viaducts access bridges, each 860 m long and consisting of a continuous box girder. The central bridge is 695 m long, with a central span of about 400 m and two side spans of about 147 m each. The deck is about 23.5 m wide.
The central columns are 128 meters above sea level.
Construction of the Rande Bridge began in 1973 and lasted about five years; it was opened to the public in 1981. About 400 people worked on the project. It is worth noting that at the time of its inauguration It was the second-longest cable-stayed bridge in the world.
In 1979, he received the European Steel Construction Award most important. Furthermore, at the time of its opening, it was the the bridge with the longest central span in the entire country.
The bridge was used by more than 80,000 vehicles a day, which represented an expected increase in traffic, so the Experts felt it was necessary to expand it.
As part of the expansion of this bridge, it was decided to add a a third lane in each direction, without disrupting traffic. Construction began in February 2015 and they had a budget of 107.9 million euros. Although the duration of the construction work was initially estimated at 23 months, it wasn't until December 2018, when the third lane was opened, This is expected to significantly improve the distribution of the overwhelming traffic volume that the Rande Bridge is subjected to on a daily basis.
