The City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is set to commence works next year to strengthen two bridges spanning the Santos ravine, specifically known as B and C, situated beneath Plaza de Europa and Avenida Marítima in the capital respectively. The project for these works, requiring an investment of 2.7 million euros, was approved yesterday by the municipal Government Board and has been assigned to the company Trazas Ingeniería.
The Infrastructure Councillor, Javier Rivero, mentioned that “previously these were two separate projects, but now they have been combined to undertake the comprehensive refurbishment of both bridges’ structures. This will have specific implications on the surface affecting traffic on Marítima Avenue, for which a work plan will be devised to minimize disruptions.”
The mayor elaborated that the objective of the intervention, to be carried out independently due to differing structures and materials of each bridge, is “to prevent future issues in these critical infrastructures linking the municipality to Anaga along the coast and the rest of the city. Without these bridges or in case of any future problems, all traffic would have to be diverted via Las Ramblas, which would harm the capital.”
The council’s decision to undertake these works starting next year is influenced by the aging of the structures, coastal proximity impacting ravine avenues, tidal effects, and heavy traffic on the bridge beneath Marítima Avenue. Rivero emphasized that “the intervention will involve structural repair of the lower sections of the decks, with remodeling of pillars to maintain and enhance load-bearing capacity.”
Furthermore, “complete deck renovation will be carried out on both bridges, with differing technical solutions. These works will not be visible to the public as they will be conducted underground, involving intricate specialized tasks, whose completion timeline will also be tide-dependent. The structural refurbishment and reinforcement of the bridges will ultimately include surface work affecting Marítima Avenue traffic.”
It’s worth noting that by the end of 2022, the council embarked on the rehabilitation of the Bravo Murillo bridge used by trams. This intervention aimed to address the structure’s deterioration supporting the avenue platform and averting potential collapse.
