Rande Bridge

Rande Bridge

Ponte de Rande
The bridge before its widening
Coordinates42°17′17″N 8°39′38″W / 42.288080°N 8.66051°W / 42.288080; -8.66051 (Rande Bridge)
CarriesMotor vehicles
CrossesRia de Vigo
LocaleRedondela - Moaña, Galicia, Spain
Maintained byAudasa
Characteristics
DesignCable-stay
MaterialConcrete
Total length1,558 m (5,112 ft)
Width23.46 m (77.0 ft)
Height148 m (486 ft)
Longest span401 m (1,316 ft)
No. of spans3
Piers in water
4
History
DesignerFabrizio de Miranda
Florencio del Pozo
Alfredo Passaro
Construction start1973
Construction end1978
Opened1981
Statistics
Daily traffic50,000
Location
Interactive map of Rande Bridge

The Rande Bridge (Galician: Ponte de Rande, Spanish: Puente de Rande) is a cable-stayed bridge 9 kilometres from the city of Vigo and 18 kilometres from the city of Pontevedra, in the Province of Pontevedra, Spain. It spans Vigo bay across the Rande Strait, linking the municipalities of Redondela and Moaña.

History

It was designed by Italian engineer Fabrizio de Miranda, the Spaniard Florencio del Pozo (who was also in charge of its foundations), and Alfredo Passaro. The bridge was built in 1978 and opened in 1981, just over a year before start of the 1982 FIFA World Cup. It forms part of the AP-9 motorway. It was exclusively a toll bridge until 2006, when it became a shadow toll stretch.

It has a length of 1,604 metres, its pillars have a height of 148 metres and its main span measures 401 metres. Although it was not the biggest (cable-stayed) span in the world when it opened, it was the longest span with more than two lanes.

It currently carries around 50,000 vehicles per day. Since its opening to traffic in 1981, more than 230 million vehicles have passed through it. It did cost 3,658 million pesetas to build at the time.

Due to the increase in traffic, plans were drawn up to widen the bridge by adding one extra lane in each direction. In February 2015, work on the widening project began, with an estimated investment of €107.9 million. The new lanes were opened to traffic on 30 December 2017.

See also

References

  1. ↑ J. A Jurado; José Ángel Jurado Albarracín; Félix Nieto; A. Mosquera (15 March 2011). Bridge Aeroelasticity: Sensitivity Analysis and Optimum Design. WIT Press. pp. 31–. ISBN 978-1-84564-056-9. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  2. ↑ Leonardo Fernández Troyano (2003). Bridge Engineering: A Global Perspective. Thomas Telford. pp. 664–. ISBN 978-0-7277-3215-6. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Giancarlo Colombo; Who's Who in Italy S. R. L. (1998). Who's Who in Italy. Intercontinental Book & Publishing. ISBN 978-88-85246-26-3. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Rajoy inaugura la ampliación del Puente de Rande". www.lamoncloa.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-10-25.

Sources