According to Portuguese radio TSF, the councils of Vila Real de Santo António and Castro Marim, near the border with Spain, are demanding urgent repairs on the Guadiana International Bridge, citing what they say are longstanding safety problems, namely the fact that a steel cable in one of the structure’s tethers snapped almost a year ago.
In comments to Lusa News Agency, IP’s Rui Coutinho confirmed that one “of the several thousand” cables that make up the 128 tethers that form part of the bridge came free last June, but said that the bridge’s structure is “totally safe” for the circulation of automobiles. If that were not the case, he added, the company “would have already taken precautionary measures”.
According to Coutinho, each of the tethers on the 25-year-old bridge is composed of 37 cables, meaning that in total the structure has some 4,700.
In September IP announced plans to spend €13 million - part-funded by its Spanish counterpart - on the maintenance and rehabilitation of the bridge and approach roads.
According to Coutinho, the planned work includes the replacement of some 150 cables - a decision he described as “to be expected” in a bridge of its age.