General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge

General Information

Name in local language:	Puente General Rafael Urdaneta
Other name(s):	Maracaibo Bridge
Beginning of works:	1958
Completion:	24 August 1962
Status:	in use

Structure:	Multiple-span cable-stayed bridge
Support conditions:	for registered users
Function / usage:	Motorway bridge / freeway bridge
Material:	Prestressed concrete bridge Structurae Plus Structurae Plus

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approach viaducts
	total length	8.7 km
	number of spans	135
	span lengths of approaches	26 x 85.0 m - 2 x 65.8 m - 79 x 46.6 m - 20 x 36.6 m - 1 x 22.6 m
embankment
	length	406.0 m
main bridge
	main spans	5 x 235 m
	span lengths of main bridge	160.00 m - 5 × 235 m - 160.00 m
	vertical navigation clearance	50 m
deck	deck depth	5.00 m
deck	deck width	17.40 m
pylons	pylon height	86.60 m

1957	International competition
24 August 1962	Opening
6 April 1964	After a ship collides with a pier one of the span collapses into the water. Seven persons are killed in the collapse.

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Initial construction (1958-1962)

Design

Consulting

Co-contractor

Cable steel supplier

Repairs (1964-1964)

Contractor

Deswarte, Sylvie / Lemoine, Bertrand (1997): L'architecture et les ingénieurs. Deux siècles de réalisations. Moniteur, Paris (France), pp. 144.
Picon, Antoine (1997): L'art de l'ingénieur. constructeur, entrepeneur, inventeur. Éditions du Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (France), pp. 278-279.
Fernández Troyano, Leonardo / Collighan, John (2003): Bridge engineering. A global perspective. Thomas Telford, London (United Kingdom), ISBN 9780727732156, pp. 604, 621.
https://doi.org/10.1680/beagp.32156
Morandi, Riccardo (1961): The Bridge Spanning Lake Maracaibo. In: PCI Journal, v. 6, n. 2 (June 1961), pp. 12-27.
https://doi.org/10.15554/pcij.06011961.12.27
The Bridge Spanning Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. Bauverlag GmbH, Berlin (Germany), 1963.