South Americas Tallest Bridge Compared To Accordion

Story By:  Angjela Trajkovska, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

 

These are the startling images of South America’s tallest bridge which has crumpled and been compared to an accordion in local media.

The bridge is the Hisgaura Viaduct which is located between the towns of Malaga and Los Curos in the Colombian department of Santander.

At 148.3 metres (486.5 feet) high and 653 metres (2,142 feet) long the bridge is reportedly the tallest in South America.

However, images of the bridge have emerged which appear to show the centre of the bridge has crumpled, showing a series of waves in the cement where a straight line should be.

It is not known why the bridge has ended up in this state and local media have compared it an accordion.

The company in charge of the construction of the bridge is Spanish firm Sacyr.

A Sacyr spokesperson said: “The security and stability of the Hisgaura bridge are completely guaranteed.”

The project started in 2015 and was financed by the Adaptation Fund. Construction was planned to take 36 months but it is still not in use because the necessary load tests have not been carried out.

However, the Spanish construction company did not complete the project under the agreed conditions and the Colombian government have announced that it would have to be rebuilt from scratch, the government were quoted as saying in local media.

The President of the Colombian Society of Engineers, Argelino Duran, reportedly confirmed that there had been a lack of rigour in the construction of the bridge but said the problems were not as serious as they had been presented and are being fixed.