Duarte Bridge
Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge Puente Juan Pablo Duarte | |
|---|---|
 View of the Duarte Bridge over the Ozama River | |
| Coordinates | 18°29′10.67″N 69°52′57.84″W / 18.4862972°N 69.8827333°W |
| Carries | Four one-way lanes (west to east) of  DR-3, from Avenida 27 de Febrero to Avenida de las Américas |
| Crosses | Ozama River |
| Locale | Santo Domingo (Distrito Nacional and Santo Domingo Este), Dominican Republic |
| Other name(s) | Duarte Bridge; formerly Radhamés Bridge |
| Owner | Government of the Dominican Republic |
| Maintained by | Ministry of Public Works and Communications |
Next upstream | Juan Bosch Bridge |
Next downstream | Floating Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Suspension bridge |
| Material | Steel |
| Height | 55 m (180 ft) (towers) |
| Longest span | 175.5 m (576 ft) |
| History | |
| Opened | 17 December 1955 |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge | |
The Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge (Spanish: Puente Juan Pablo Duarte), commonly known as the Duarte Bridge, is a suspension bridge over the Ozama River that links the Distrito Nacional with the municipality of Santo Domingo Este in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It opened on 17 December 1955, under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, as the Radhamés Bridge (Puente Radhamés), and was renamed after the fall of the regime. It is a single-span, two-tower suspension bridge and today carries traffic in one direction only, from west to east, while the neighbouring Juan Bosch Bridge carries it the other way.
Location
The bridge crosses the lower Ozama, near its mouth. It connects the southern end of Avenida 27 de Febrero in the Distrito Nacional with Avenida de las Américas in Santo Domingo Este, and forms part of the DR-3 corridor. The Juan Bosch Bridge runs parallel to it, on its northern side.
History
Background
The first bridge over the Ozama opened on 28 April 1878 under Ulises Heureaux and was built of iron and wood. A flood washed it away, and the drawbridge that replaced it was destroyed by Hurricane San Zenón in 1930. Trujillo had a bridge rebuilt in 1933.
Construction and opening under Trujillo
Work on the bridge began in 1953 and ended in 1955. It opened on 17 December 1955, coinciding with the Fair of Peace and Brotherhood of the Free World (Feria de la Paz y Confraternidad del Mundo Libre), the large event with which the Trujillo regime marked its 25th anniversary in power. It was named the Radhamés Bridge after Radhamés Trujillo, one of the dictator's sons, the same name given at the time to the La Fe neighbourhood. The press has described it as the crowning work of the regime, and it became the main access between the colonial city and the eastern zone.
After the collapse of the dictatorship, the bridge was renamed in honour of Juan Pablo Duarte, founding father of the Dominican Republic.
Damage and repairs (1965–2003)
The bridge was damaged in the fighting of the Dominican Civil War of April 1965 and was repaired by Joaquín Balaguer. According to the newspaper El Nacional, it received another refit in 1970, and in 1997 a complete overhaul was ordered. Since February 1998, 30 km (19 mi) of new cables had been stored on the east side of the bridge, and in late 2003 they were reported to be damaged. At that time the bridge was closed for repairs, and traffic was diverted around the structure on the advice of engineers from the Conde-Mouchel consortium, which was in charge of the works.
To ease traffic during the planned temporary closure of the bridge to replace its cables, the government of Leonel Fernández installed the floating bridge over the Ozama in 1998. Conceived as an emergency measure to last three months, it was still in use almost three decades later.
Opening of the Juan Bosch Bridge and one-way operation
The opening of the Juan Bosch Bridge in December 2001, built to relieve congestion on the Duarte Bridge, allowed the latter to be used only in the west-to-east direction, while the new bridge would serve the opposite direction.
Deterioration and recent repairs (2022–2026)
On 15 July 2022, the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) began replacing the bridge's expansion joints, with a planned duration of 60 days. Minister Deligne Ascención said the bridge carried 35,500 vehicles a day between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. The MOPC handed the bridge back on 2 November 2022, after three months of work, 48 days behind schedule and at a cost of around RD$60 million.
The joints soon failed again. On 10 December 2022 the bridge was closed to repair them; between 17 and 20 March 2023 it was fully closed because of adhesion problems, at the request of the contractor, Proyectos Industriales, S. A. (Pinsa); and a third repair took place on 28 and 29 April 2023. The MOPC ordered Pinsa to carry out the repairs at no cost to the state and imposed administrative sanctions on those responsible. Later, citizens again warned of deterioration in several of its expansion joints.
In September 2026 the MOPC announced a structural strengthening programme that includes technical and vulnerability studies for work on the Juan Bosch and Juan Pablo Duarte bridges.
Design
The Duarte Bridge is a steel suspension bridge with a single suspended span of 175.5 m (576 ft) and two towers 55 m (180 ft) high.
Direction and lane layout
Since the opening of the Juan Bosch Bridge, the Duarte Bridge has operated in one direction only, from west to east, that is, from the Distrito Nacional towards Santo Domingo Este. It has four lanes running from Avenida 27 de Febrero to Avenida de las Américas: three general-purpose lanes and one lane exclusive to the Las Américas Tunnel. During the morning peak, a contraflow lane has also been set up for traffic towards the Distrito Nacional.
See also
References
- 1 2 3 "Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge". Structurae. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Puente Juan Bosch se someterá a primer gran remozamiento 20 años después" [Juan Bosch Bridge to undergo its first major refurbishment 20 years on]. Listín Diario (in Spanish). 26 May 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ "Intervendrán el puente Juan Bosch; inversión será superior a RD$40 millones" [Juan Bosch Bridge to be worked on; investment will exceed RD$40 million]. Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Del ayer al hoy: la historia del puente sobre el Ozama que sigue marcando a Santo Domingo" [From yesterday to today: the history of the bridge over the Ozama that continues to shape Santo Domingo]. Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Los cinco puentes principales de Santo Domingo" [The five main bridges of Santo Domingo]. Inmobiliario.do (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Bosch, Matías. "Ciudad Trujillo" [Ciudad Trujillo]. El Día (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- 1 2 Vicioso, Dolores (30 November 2003). "The bridge". DR1.com. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ "El puente flotante: de medida provisional a vía indispensable durante casi tres décadas" [The floating bridge: from stopgap to indispensable route for almost three decades]. Diario Libre (in Spanish). 13 August 2025. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ "Lo que se hace en el puente Juan Pablo Duarte" [What is being done on the Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge]. Diario Libre (in Spanish). 27 July 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ "Ministerio de Obras Públicas anuncia reparación profunda al puente Juan Pablo Duarte" [Ministry of Public Works announces deep repair of the Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge]. PincelDigital.do (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- 1 2 3 "El puente Duarte será reparado por tercera vez y MOPC afirma se asegurará trabajos tengan calidad" [Duarte Bridge to be repaired for a third time and MOPC says it will ensure the work is of quality]. Acento (in Spanish). 27 April 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ "Obras Públicas informa las rutas alternas por cierre total del puente Duarte" [Public Works announces alternative routes for total closure of the Duarte Bridge]. Diario Libre (in Spanish). 17 March 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ "A menos de cuatro años de invertir RD$60 millones, ciudadanos alertan sobre el deterioro del puente Duarte" [Less than four years after a RD$60 million investment, citizens warn of the Duarte Bridge's deterioration]. Inmobiliario.do (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Montilla, Erick (9 September 2026). "Ministerio de Obras Públicas reforzará el puente Juan Bosch" [Ministry of Public Works will strengthen the Juan Bosch Bridge]. elCaribe (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ "Obras Públicas anuncia reparación del puente Juan Pablo Duarte" [Public Works announces repair of the Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge]. elCaribe (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 November 2026.