Puente de los Tirantes cable-stayed bridge

Puente de los Tirantes cable-stayed bridge R. Jose Malvar Figueroa, 46D, 36002 Pontevedra The Tirantes Bridge is a balanced tower cable-stayed bridge that spans the Lleres River in the Spanish city of Pontevedra, connecting the left and right banks in the north of the city at the height of the Congress Palace. The bridge was designed in 1992 by Leonardo Fernández Troyano and Francisco Javier Manterola Armisen and inaugurated in 1995. It is one of the 33 most unique bridges in Spain. The construction of the bridge was planned by the Galician government in the early 1990s to connect the two banks of the Leres River as part of an urban planning project to develop an ancient marsh in the northeastern part of the city on dry land land. The project includes the construction of the Pontevedra Congress Palace and Exhibition Center and a cable-stayed bridge serving as the city's northern exit. The jury for the preliminary design competition for the bridge, chaired by José Cuíña, MP for Territorial Policy, Public Works and Housing of the Junta de Galicia, announced its decision on 15 December 1991. The construction of the bridge was influenced by the tides at the mouth of the Pontevedra River, with sea level changes of more than 4 metres. This situation forced the construction process to be independent of water, and the bridge had to be built using a continuous cantilever system. On May 13, 1995, the structure underwent a load test. 16 trucks withstood a total load of 480,000 kilograms, resulting in a maximum deformation of 19.3 centimeters in the lower plate. After the load test was successfully completed, the bridge was completed and opened to traffic on May 26, 1995, and has since become one of the symbols of the city's modernization. The total length between the piers of the bridge is 125 meters, with no intermediate supports. The bridge tower or inclined concrete tower is 63 meters high. There are 17 pairs of steel cables extending from the tower. The front steel cables support the concrete beam plates, and the rear steel cables are supported on the concrete beams. There are two concrete bases on the ground that serve as counterweights to balance the forces on the tower or pylon. The bridge deck width is 20 meters. The bridge deck is supported and fixed to the shaft by two bundles of twin cables anchored at the center of the deck every 6 meters with a spacing of 0.70 meters between cables. The tilted tower or pylon acts as an anchor for the forestays and compensating braces that support the bridge deck. The way the bridge is perceived changes depending on weather conditions. Changes in light or wind intensity can change the perception of the bridge, as wind shakes cables or supports and creates characteristic noises. Initially, the Tirantes Bridge had 4 lanes, but in 2013, one of the lanes was removed and consolidated into a cycle path. The steel supports reflect strange images in the water, and when the wind blows, they make a unique and spectacular noise. Province of Pontevedra, Autonomous Region of Galicia