By: ELOISE WALTON
REPAIR WORKS to Portimão’s bridge on the Arade River, which links the city with Parchal village, will be suspended during the summer.
The state owned road construction and maintenance company Estradas de Portugal (EP) has confirmed that the bridge, which has been closed since November last year (see The Resident, edition November 9, 2007), will be opening temporarily between July 15 and September 15 to avoid traffic chaos during the busy holiday season.
A spokesman from Portimão Câmara told The Resident: “The bridge will be reopening for normal vehicles such as cars and motorbikes. This measure was agreed upon in the original contract with Estradas de Portugal before the repairs on the bridge started.”
The spokesman also said that the opening of the bridge will not delay the completion deadline for the repairs, which are due to be finished by the third quarter of 2009. Since last November, two of the structure’s central pillars, designated P4 and P5, have been reinforced and EP are currently working on four others; P1, P3, P6 and P8.
Critical
The bridge was closed following a damming inspection carried out by EP, where it was found that the structure was in urgent need of renovation work in order to prevent potential accidents and its collapse. An earlier report in 2004 had concluded that the bridge’s state was critical, which made EP monitor the pillars and metallic structures more regularly.
Since the closure, only pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles have been allowed to cross the bridge, with other vehicles having to enter the city via the Alvor/Penina route and the EN125 exit near the Barlavento hospital.
The Portimão bridge was built in 1876 by the company Five Lille and is the oldest of three serving the intense traffic that goes in and out of the city every day. Its closure has meant that around 8,000 vehicles daily are using Portimão’s remaining entrances, resulting in severe traffic congestion.
The bridge is ranked among the country’s artistic monuments that are controlled by EP, through its department of Special Structures and Works of Art.
For more information visit www.estradasdeportugal.pt/site/v3/. This website is in Portuguese only. For information about the traffic changes in Portimão, please contact the local Câmara at 282 470 300.
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