Wadi el Kuf Bridge (
Formal Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of standardized, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; occasionally, it also ref ...
: , ''Jisr Wadi Al Kuf''), is a bridge located 20 km west of
Bayda,
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. It is the
second highest bridge in Africa.
It was designed by Italian civil engineer
Riccardo Morandi
Riccardo Morandi visiting Palace of Justice Competition.
Riccardo Morandi (1 September 1902 – 25 December 1989) was an Italian civil engineer best known for his innovative use of reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete, although over the ...
. Construction of the bridge began in 1965 and the bridge was opened in 1972. The bridge crosses the Kouf Valley. It is about 282 meters long, and 160 meters in height. Its construction cost $5.3 million US.
For seven years, its 282 meters central span was the longest concrete cable-stayed bridge span in the world.
On 25 October 2017, the Security Directorate of the Green Mountain region in east Libya called on the security services to close down Wadi el Kuf Bridge, following inspections that identified potential fractures in the bridge. The following day, road transport engineers inspected the bridge and stated that it needed emergency maintenance but was safe. On 27 October 2017, the bridge was reopened for light traffic, while local security officials were preventing heavily loaded trucks from crossing in groups.
On 8 August 2018 another similar security alert has been reported, but no details about another bridge closure or the structural problems identified is available.
[See Talk:Riccardo Morandi#proposal of editing about Wadi el Kuf Bridge paragraph for source and info]
On a similar bridge in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, also designed by Morandi and usually called
Ponte Morandi
(English: Morandi Bridge), officially (English: Polcevera Viaduct), was a road viaduct in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, constructed between 1963 and 1967 along the A10 motorway over the Polcevera River, from which it derived its official name. It c ...
, where—differently from Wadi el Kuf—structural problems have been known since the first years after construction in 1967, one of its 3 towers collapsed on 14 August 2018, killing 43.
References
External links
Wadi Kuf Bridge - HighestBridges.com
Transport in Libya
Bridges in Libya
Bridges completed in 1972
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