Bridge Rafael Urdaneta -----> Maracaibo, Venezuela

BRIDGE RAFAEL URDANETA
MARACAIBO --- VENEZUELA

Bridge Rafael Urdaneta, bridge located in the state of Zulia, in Venezuela, on the natural channel that unites the lake of Maracaibo with the bay of the Tablazo. It was inaugurated the 24 of August of 1962. It receives his name in tribute to the military man and politician Rafael Urdaneta. He is one of the most spectacular world-wide scale bridges, with a length of 8,687 ms between "Punta Piedras" and "Punta Iguana", and 17.40 ms of wide, it is the prestressed concrete bridge but long of of the world. Account with four channels of circulation of automobiles and trucks, with five central sections of 235 mts of light, maintained by steel cables, and reaches a height of 45 ms on the level of the water, allowing the free passage of the great boats and originating tankers of the Caribbean Sea. It was designed in 1957 by engineer Italian Ricardo Morandi and made by the Public Work Ministry of Venezuela; their huge scale and the complexity of the systems of concrete prestressed needed the collaboration of professionals and originating technicians of several countries. It unites the city of Maracaibo with the Eastern coast of the lake. In this bridge is the greater monument of lights of Latin America and third of the world

Map of Ubication (between Maracaibo and Santa Rita)


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