The Matanzas Provincial Road Safety Commission reopened on Friday the vehicular passage on the Canímar bridge, essential for the Havana-Varadero tourist corridor, closed since last October due to imminent risk of collapse.
The infrastructure was enabled at 5:00 in the afternoon after the load, static, and dynamic tests yielded results in “normal parameters” and “total passenger safety,” said Reynaldo Hernández Rodríguez, director of the institution.
The bridge, located at kilometer 119 of the Central Highway, remained closed for two months for renovation work after a study by the National Applied Research Company and the Provincial Highway Directorate, which warned that its uprights were in “critical condition.” with advanced corrosion and that caused a lack of stability in all its infrastructure.
Quoted by the official press, Miguel Paz Chil, president of the Sancof Non-Agricultural Cooperative (CNA), said that the schedule included changing the 14 uprights that make up the upper structure of the bridge, as well as replacing six secondary beams. Two horizontal braces were also repaired and four replaced, and 12 support points were cleaned.
“Other damaged elements” of the bridge are still pending, mainly from the lower area, which were identified during maintenance work, the official confirmed, but which can be fixed without having to stop vehicular traffic.
The Canímar bridge was built between May 20, 1927 and February 24, 1931, but since its inauguration maintenance and conservation work has been “very limited”
The Canímar bridge was built between May 20, 1927 and February 24, 1931, but since its inauguration maintenance and conservation work has been “very limited” and “insufficient to maintain the good condition of the metal framework of infrastructure”, acknowledges the same provincial government in its note.
The bridge’s structural flaws had been evident for years, according to two previous studies. But the director of the Matanzas Provincial Road Safety Commission assured on September 23, 2022 that it was in good structural condition and that it was “the object of a smear campaign by the enemies of the Cuban revolution.”
At that time, Jorge Luis Hernández, general director of the Matanzas Architecture and Engineering Projects Company, even cataloged the bridge as “a jewel of Cuban engineering.”
A diagnosis carried out in August 2020 recommended the closure of the bridge after detecting construction failures. Then, in March 2021, another study urged the authorities to intervene as soon as possible, since the missing pieces in the structure could cause “the failure of some sections and compromise security.”
The authorities’ solution at that time was to limit the circulation of vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons. They also ordered the use of the 13-kilometer detour that connects the towns of Ibarra and Caoba, passing through Triunvirato, as an alternative route, an option that represents an hour behind the usual route, warned a newspaper note. Giron published at the beginning of October 2022.
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