Bridge of Americas Needs Maintenance
The Ministry of Public Works is prohibiting heavy vehicles from crossing the Bridge of the Americas as a preventative measure since the viaduct has not been maintained in some time.
Bidding for the diagnostic study will begin in May and the winning company will have eight months to complete the study. By January of 2011, the results will reveal the condition of the bridge.
“We are focused on the structure of the bridge because in effect the running boards and the metallic elements that support them are very deteriorated,” said Ivan de Ycaza, Vice Minister of the Ministry Public Works.
The Ministry will soon transfer the responsibility of the bridge’s permanent maintenance to the Panama Canal Authority which is charged with guaranteeing that the structure does not represent any danger to the approximately 15,000 vessels which transit the Canal annually, Panama America reports.
Originally known as Thatcher Ferry Bridge, after the original ferry that crossed the Canal at about the same point, the 5,425-foot Bridge of the America’s spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. It was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel and built by John F. Beasly & Company from 1959 to 1962 at a cost of $20 million.
Stamp created for the inauguration of the Bridge of the Americas in 1962
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Whole damn country needs some maintenance….
[...] Ministry of Public Works also commissioned a study of the bridge’s deteriorated running boards and structure to be ready by January [...]
[...] In related news, the Bridge of the Americas may not be equipped to handle such heavy traffic pending an evaluation scheduled for release in January 2011. [...]