Excellent news for those traveling between Guanacaste and San Jose: the Amistad Bridge over the Tempisque River is 99% complete and will be inaugurated next week. After three months of intervention and maintenance work, Efraím Zeledón, Vice-Minister of Transportation, indicated that they are now in the final stage.
“The asphalt mix has already been laid, we are working on demarcation, final painting details, and placing the joints. It is practically ready, and according to plan, we will be opening next week,” he assured. Thus, between now and July 24, the date scheduled for the reopening, small works will be carried out and the final details will be reviewed.
“The bridge is almost ready. The most complicated part, which was to lift the bridge, change the supports, and lower it again, has already been done. A delicate part, which was the placement of the asphalt mix, has been successfully completed, and the installation of the lighting, which was very important, has also been finalized,” Efraím Zeledón commented.
La Amistad Bridge is 780 meters long and consists of two sections: a 260-meter cable-stayed section, supported by tension cables, and a 520-meter fixed section, supported by eight concrete piers. It is located between the cantons of Cañas and Nicoya. The work on this bridge included replacing the supports on one bastion and several piers, replacing expansion joints, general repairs to the tower, lighting installation, and asphalting the road surface.
Estrumet Metalmecánica is the company in charge of the diagnosis and intervention of the bridge. The total cost of the work is $1,769,134.78, which is close to one billion colones. Several reports indicated that the bridge was in very poor condition and posed a danger for those who had to cross it, so the intervention was extremely urgent.
The reopening will take place prior to the celebration of the bicentennial of the annexation of the Nicoya Party. Therefore, the government will tour the Guanacaste province starting Monday, July 22. President Rodrigo Chaves will visit Abangares, Liberia, La Cruz, Carrillo, and Nicoya.
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