The Government of Córdoba reported that the assembly of the beams of the new 480-meter-long bridge that will cross Lake San Roque over the mouth of the Cosquín River, in the Punilla Valley, has begun. The viaduct is executed within the framework of the construction of the highway of national route 38 that will unite in this first stage, the Variante Costa Azul with the access to the town of Molinari.
The new structure will have two lanes per direction of movement, external and internal shoulders, central physical separator and external metal defenses. In addition, a space for the pedestrian crossing is planned.
The assembly system used is a thrown beam, which allows the installation of large prefabricated and prestressed structures.
This innovative and infrequently used construction system has been specially assembled for this work by the contractor José J. Chediack. In total, around ninety beams of forty meters in length and two meters in height will be placed.
“The new bridge over Lake San Roque is part of the alternative highway of National Route 38. The highway will allow for calmer commuting and will develop tourism in the Punilla Valley while avoiding the collapse of the current Route 38. It will also improve access to emergency services and will reduce travel time between Córdoba and towns in the north of the valley”, indicated the Minister of Public Works of the Province, Ricardo Sosa.
progress of works
In this first stage, the Government of the Province, through the company Caminos de las Sierras, is executing the 21.8-kilometre section between the Costa Azul Bypass and the access to the town of Molinari, at the junction with the road that connects with the Sierras Grandes (Road to La Candelaria) through which it is estimated that 3.3 million vehicles will pass annually.
The objective of the work is to solve the traffic problems that currently arise due to the lack of capacity of the current route and the route through urban areas that generates traffic congestion and delays.
To expedite the work and progress, the tender was carried out divided into four different fronts. The first is called sector 1A, and goes from Variant Costa Azul to the access to Bialet Massé.
Sector 1B starts at the access to Bialet Massé until the access to Santa María de Punilla. Meanwhile, sector 1C covers from the access to Santa María de Punilla to the access to Cosquín. Finally, sector 1D goes from the access to Cosquín to the access to Molinari.
As part of the work, in addition to the bridge that is being built over the lake at the mouth of the Cosquín River, it foresees the construction of a bridge over the Yuspe River, and new transit distributors at the main crossings and accesses to the areas urban areas of San Roque, Bialet Massé, Santa María de Punilla and Cosquín.
The works that are carried out are partially financed with an international credit granted by the Andean Development Corporation.
In a second stage, the call for tenders is planned for the execution of another 21.2 kilometers that will join the access to Molinari and La Cumbre with a route located to the west of the towns of Casa Grande, Valle Hermoso, La Falda, Huerta Grande and Villa Giardino, where the construction of returns and connection distributors is planned at the main intersections and accesses to towns.
