Malaga’s new CAC bridge finally arrives in city after long delay

There has been a wait of more than two years for the replacement pedestrian walkway over the Guadalmedina riverbed, next to the city’s Centro de Arte Contemporáneo

Jesús Hinojosa

Malaga

Wednesday, 22 March 2023, 10:44

Two years and nine months have passed since the last bridge was demolished due to its poor condition. But today - Wednesday, 22 March - a new metal pedestrian bridge has arrived in the city, and it will be swung into position over the Guadalmedina river next to the CAC Centro de Arte Contemporáneo in Malaga, once the two halves have been welded together.

On Tuesday afternoon, the long-awaited transfer of the structure from the manufacturer Megusa in Seville to the city took place, a journey with the bridge split into two sections, transported by special low loader vehicles.

The bridge parts arrived in the city just after eleven o'clock at night and the route took the convoy along Avenida de Andalucía and Avenida de la Aurora to reach the Matadero. Once the vehicles were in place next to the river, a large-tonnage crane located in the Guadalmedina lifted the two halves of the structure and placed them on the river bed. They will remain there for the next few days while they are welded together, forming a single piece.

Once this work is completed, possibly early next week, the walkway will be lifted by crane and fixed in place.

However, everything indicates that the bridge will not be open for pedestrians by Easter, since the installation of the wooden-slat deck will still need to be completed.

Imagen principal - Malaga’s new CAC bridge finally arrives in city after long delay — Photos: Ñito Salas

Imagen secundaria 1 - Malaga’s new CAC bridge finally arrives in city after long delay — Photos: Ñito Salas

Imagen secundaria 2 - Malaga’s new CAC bridge finally arrives in city after long delay

This new bridge should have been ready by the first half of 2021. The city council awarded the work in November 2020 to the temporary collaboration of Construcciones Garrucho and Tevaseñal, from Cadiz and Jaén, respectively, for 490,039 euros, and with a construction time of three months.

However, that was only on paper, and in September 2021 an extra cost of 73,468 euros was approved due to project alterations introduced by planning architects to guarantee accessibility to the walkway.

These changes took time to be negotiated with the construction companies, in terms of technical characteristics and budget, for the modified project.

Material shortage

The works for the construction of the new bridge moved forward last year but were not completely finished due to material supply difficulties, mainly steel, due to its scarcity and the rise in prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the contracted companies.

To make matters worse, in recent months, the planning department’s architects requested new modifications, the time regarding the finish of the bridge. This latest change to the coating was the subject of financial negotiations between the contract winners and the City Council, which finally resulted in them assuming the cost without increasing the final budget for the work.

After this long journey, the bridge is now in the city and ready to be installed. Its structure varies from the initial designs released by the City Council. Therefore, the deck of the bridge is not completely horizontal, but rises in its central section so as not to be a problem in the event that the Guadalmedina reaches a water level that fills the entire section of the channel.

In addition, the perforated aluminium sheet cladding has been painted in a light grey tone, not white as initially planned. The new bridge is crowned at its end closest to Calle Salitre with a tower, just under 12-metres tall, that has not yet been delivered to Malaga. This vertical module has been designed by the city council’s architects as a way of marking the entrance to the Perchel district.

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