The Atlantic Bridge is a
road bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
in
Colón,
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
spanning the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
entrance to the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
. Completed in 2019, it is the third bridge over the canal after the
Bridge of the Americas
The Bridge of the Americas ( es, Puente de las Américas; originally known as the Thatcher Ferry Bridge) is a road bridge in Panama which spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. Designed by Sverdrup & Parcel, it was completed in 1962 at ...
and the
Centennial Bridge, both on the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
side of the canal.
The bridge is a double-pylon, double-plane, concrete
girder
A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ' ...
,
cable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern o ...
with a main span of and two side spans of . The east and west approaches are and long, respectively. The bridge was designed by the
China Communication Construction Company and built by
Vinci Construction
Vinci (corporately styled VINCI) is a French concessions and construction company founded in 1899 as Société Générale d'Enterprises. Its head office is in Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris. Vinci is listed on Euronext's Paris stock ...
.
Route
The bridge is part of a local connection road (as yet unnamed) between Bolivar Highway in the east and the undeveloped western area. It will replace the nearby Panama Canal Ferry. It is the only bridge north of the
Culebra Cut
The Culebra Cut, formerly called Gaillard Cut, is an artificial valley that cuts through the Continental Divide in Panama. The cut forms part of the Panama Canal, linking Gatun Lake, and thereby the Atlantic Ocean, to the Gulf of Panama and hence ...
(
Puente Centenario).
Construction
Three consortiums were approved to bid for the bridge construction:
Acciona Infraestructuras -Tradeco (Spain and Mexico),
Odebrecht
Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...
–
Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups:
* Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested
** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company
** Hyundai ...
Joint Venture (Brazil and Korea), and
Vinci Construction Grands Projets (France). Tenders were received in August 2012.
In October 2012, the Panama Canal Authority awarded a contract to the French company Vinci Construction to build a third (permanent) bridge, near the Atlantic side, for an offer price of . At that time the bridge had no name, but ''Third bridge'' and ''Atlantic side bridge'' were used, as well as ''Atlantic Bridge''.
Construction of the bridge and access viaducts, which commenced in January 2013, was planned to take three and a half years and was expected to be completed in 2016. The main span of the bridge was keyed (joined into a single span) on 6 September 2018. The bridge was unveiled by Panama President
Laurentino Cortizo
Laurentino "Nito" Cortizo Cohen (; born 30 January 1953) is a Panamanian politician who has served as the President of Panama since 2019. Cortizo is the former President of the National Assembly and Minister of Agricultural and Livestock Devel ...
and Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano on Friday 2 August 2019.
See also
*
List of bridges in Panama Historical bridges
Major bridges
References
*
* Others references
See also
* Transport in Panama
External links
*
{{Bridge footer
Lists of bridges by country, Panama
Bridges in Panama, *
Lists of buildings and structures ...
References
External links
Atlantic Bridge website by
Vinci SA
Vinci (corporately styled VINCI) is a French concessions and construction company founded in 1899 as Société Générale d'Enterprises. Its head office is in Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris. Vinci is listed on Euronext's Paris stock ...
Atlantic Bridge article by
China Communications Construction
China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC) is a majority state-owned, publicly traded, multinational engineering and construction company primarily engaged in the design, construction and operation of infrastructure assets, including ...
*
{{Panama Canal
Panama Canal
Colón, Panama
Bridges in Panama
Road bridges
Cable-stayed bridges in Panama
Girder bridges
Concrete bridges
Buildings and structures in Colón Province
Bridges completed in 2019
2019 establishments in Panama