The order to proceed for the construction of the fourth bridge over the Canal is delivered

The length of the cable-stayed bridge and the access viaducts will be 3,950 meters

The President of the Republic of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez and the Minister of Public Works, Ramón Arosemena Crespo, today delivered the Order to Proceed to the Panama Fourth Bridge Consortium, made up of China Communications Construction Company LTD and China Harbor Engineering Company LTD , and that formalizes the start of the works within the great work of the design and construction of the Fourth Bridge over the Panama Canal. 

It is a work whose investment amount is $ 1,420,027,324.73. The Minister of Public Works expressed during his speech that “the dreams of thousands of Panamanians come true with the construction of this mega-construction that arises from the need to expand the capacity of the road transport network and that will allow better mobility for all the citizens, mainly to the users of the province of Panama West who will be able to enjoy a comfortable, agile and safe road “. 

Arosemena explained that the Fourth Bridge over the Canal has incorporated other road projects such as: Expansion to eight lanes Section: Puente de Las Américas – Arraiján; the six-lane project called “Beach Corridor”; the expansion of Omar Torrijos avenue (Red Tank – via Centenario), and a new road alternative that aims to connect the communities of Veracruz with Vacamonte, in Arraiján. 

“With the start of construction of this mega-bank, we transferred a precedent to future administrations so that they continue with the development of a National Plan that contributes to the physical and structural evolution of the country,” said the head of the Public Works portfolio. 

The Fourth Bridge over the Panama Canal is composed of a complete road system that includes a main cable-stayed bridge and the East Access Viaduct, West Access Viaduct that total approximately 2.1 kilometers. Additionally, the East (Albrook) and West Distributors will be designed and built, which add up to approximately 34 km, including roads, ramps and viaducts. 

The main bridge will have a gauge of 75 meters and a width of 51 meters, and will be of the cable-stayed type to save a main light of 510 meters and side lights that add up to 251 meters on each side. It will have three lanes in each direction and two central lines for monorail for Line 3 of the Panama Metro. 

From the Fourth Bridge, drivers will have access to La Amistad Avenue, Tornado Avenue, National Avenue, North Corridor, Veracruz, Pan American Highway (8 lanes) and the Las Americas Bridge. 

A traffic control system with variable signaling, automatic incident detection (DAI) and traffic control cameras has been incorporated into the bridge. The toll system will be FREE FLOW, that is, it will pass without barriers at normal speed under new toll gate frames. 

It is expected with this great work to alleviate the traffic that occurs daily on the bridge of Las Americas, and that is able to absorb the future demand in this area estimated at 70,000 vehicles daily. 

Source LaEstrella