By Amelia Cuesta
Editorial Staff El Inmobiliario
SANTO DOMINGO.- For some, crossing the bridge means work and traffic jams; for others, it's the start of vacation or a long-awaited weekend to relax and explore new places.
Built under different governments and for various reasons, from facilitating communication with other sectors and provinces to speeding up vehicular traffic - especially during peak hours - bridges are definitely one of the most important structures in a country.
Here are the five main ones of Santo Domingo, which pass over the Ozama River.
Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge
Inaugurated on December 17, 1955, during the government of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, this structure was originally named Radhamés Trujillo Bridge, in honor of one of the president's sons, and its opening coincided with the celebration of the "Fair of Peace and Fraternity of the Free World".
After the Trujillo dictatorship collapsed, the name was changed to Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge, in honor of the father of the Dominican nation.
The construction was carried out by the North American company American Bridge Corporation, which gave it a suspension-type structure: it has a central section of 175.5 meters suspended from two groups of 20 cables each, 627 meters in length and two towers with a height of 55 meters.
The adjacent reinforced concrete sections that form the main structure were built by Vigas Gerber, with a total length of 260 meters on the Villa Duarte side and 135.8 meters on the Santo Domingo side.
This bridge connects the eastern part with the municipality of Santo Domingo.
Matías Ramón Mella Bridge
Commonly called the "Bicycle Bridge", it was inaugurated by President Joaquín Balaguer in 1972 and connects the National District and the province of Santo Domingo Este.
Its construction, directed by engineer Howard Crosby, consists of a metal structure with an approximate length of 140 meters and a width of 8 meters, made up of four expansion joints in each direction, with a total of eight joints.
Here stood the first bridge built over the Ozama River during the government of Ulises Heureaux (Lilis). The structure, which bore the dictator's name, was made of iron and wood and was inaugurated on April 28, 1878. In 1930, it was seriously damaged by Hurricane San Zenón.
In the 1990s, netting was placed on it because, due to its height, many people used it for suicidal purposes.
Francisco del Rosario Sánchez Bridge
Built in 1974 during the government of Joaquín Balaguer, it is better known as “the bridge of the 17th”.
Before its construction, around 1966, only the Duarte Bridge existed, and the Presidente Estrella Ureña public bus line only went as far as San Vicente de Paúl Avenue. So, if you wanted to go anywhere else, you had to take a small boat or swim. Therefore, the construction of the bridge became necessary.
The Venezuelan company Industrias Metalúrgicas Van Dam, SA was responsible for this project, which features a metal structure approximately 140.00 meters long and 800 meters wide, consisting of four expansion joints in each direction.
The Francisco del Rosario Sánchez bridge connects San Vicente de Paúl Avenue, in the Los Mina sector, with Padre Castellanos Avenue, Los Guandules and the Espaillat expansion.
This project is managed by the Ministry of Public Works, which maintains it periodically. Similar to the Matías Ramón Mella bridge – and for the same reasons – metal mesh was installed in 2019 to prevent further tragic incidents.
The use of the bridge makes it possible to save time for citizens and is a construction that usually attracts visitors, who can enjoy the views offered in this area of the Dominican Republic.
More than 50,000 vehicles and approximately 120,000 people travel daily between the National District and Santo Domingo East.
Floating Bridge
It was built in 2000 to alleviate traffic congestion and provide a temporary alternative route while the Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge was closed for maintenance to replace its cabling system. The bridge connects Avenida del Puerto, near Puerta de Don Diego, with Avenida Mirador del Ozama in the Villa Duarte sector.
The company in charge of its construction was Samuel Conde & Associates. It has a capacity of six lanes, three in each direction; it spans 150 feet across the river, and its internal structure is made of steel, which supports the walls and the bottom of the barges. The Floating Bridge consists of 24 tanks, 12 on each barge.
In 2017 it was temporarily closed due to the appearance of cracks that caused a slight sinking in its structure, so reconstruction and maintenance work had to be carried out.
In 2014, the National District City Council conducted a study on the number of vehicles crossing this bridge, and the result was that, at that time, 14,793 vehicles traveled towards the National District, while 17,430 crossed it in the opposite direction.
Juan Bosch Bridge
Its construction began during Leonel Fernández's presidency in 1998, and it was inaugurated on December 19, 2001, during Hipólito Mejía's administration. This bridge connects the 27 de Febrero Highway in the National District with the Las Américas Highway.
Built in honor of the politician, writer, and former president Juan Bosch, it is the first cable-stayed bridge over the Ozama River and has six lanes. It features a reinforced concrete structure, is 647.10 meters long with two 63-meter towers, and is 33.5 meters wide.
The Juan Bosch Bridge was built to alleviate traffic congestion on its sister bridge, the Juan Pablo Duarte Bridge. It is estimated that this structure is used by an average of 183,000 vehicles daily.
It is worth noting that the Juan Bosch and Duarte bridges, which connect to Las Américas Avenue, receive the highest volume of traffic, due to tourist traffic heading east to the Las Américas International Airport (AILA) and other points.
Sources:
Los Mina Digital (losminadigital.blogspot.com)
Today(hoy.com.do)
