Newspaper Económico, citing sources from IP - Infraestruturas de Portugal, said the new-look bridge, one of the main roads between Portugal and Spain, will be orange. Work is expected to be complete next year, although a specific date has not been given.
According to a document seen by Económico, the bridge will be retensioned and repositioned to its original setting, with interventions including the insertion of 40 hydraulic shock absorbers on the longest rods, close to the bridge’s deck, and 68 of its rods will be painted orange. The project also foresees decorative up-lighting of the two main towers.
IP said, in its opinion, the interventions will improve the overall dynamism of the bridge.
In the document, IP stressed that occasional constraints may affect traffic on the road for the work to take place, but at no time would the bridge be completely closed off.
The contract was assigned by IP-Infraestruturas de Portugal on 4 April for a total of €9.3 million euros to construction company Conduril. However, the total cost of work is expected to amount to around €10.8 million, with the difference being split between Portugal and Spain.
This cost-sharing between the two Iberian countries was agreed in an accord signed in 2015 by the governments of the Portuguese Republic and the Kingdom of Spain, which defined the principles and conditions for financing, contracting, conserving and monitoring the rehabilitation of the Guadiana International Bridge.
Globally, the intervention on the Guadiana Bridge will cover an extension of 666 metres and a width of 18 metres, and will include resurfacing and reinforcement, lighting and aerial and fluvial signage, as well as vertical and horizontal signage, sidewalks, safety guards and the installation of decorative bridge lighting.
Two hydraulic devices that act as buffers in the event of an earthquake, located on the Portuguese side, will also be repaired.