General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge
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The General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge is located at the outlet Lake Maracaibo, in western Venezuela. The bridge connects Maracaibo with much of the rest of the country. It is named after General Rafael Urdaneta, a Venezuelan hero in the War of Independence.
Made of concrete, it spans 8,678 meters (5.4 miles) from shore to shore. The bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that carries only vehicles. The competition to design the bridge started in 1957 and was won by Riccardo Morandi, an Italian. Construction was done by several companies. They included: Grün & Bilfinger, Julius Berger, Bauboag AG, Philipp Holzmann AG, Precomprimido C.A., Wayss & Freytag and K Ingeniería.
[edit] History
It was opened on 25 August 1962 by the then-president of Venezuela Romulo Betancourt.
In April 1964, parts of the bridge collapsed after a ship collision.
The construction of a second cable-stayed bridge has been proposed since 1982, with a series of studies made since 2000. The cost of the new bridge has been estimated at US$440m, to be largely privately financed via tolls. [1]
