The "Libertador General San Martín" bridge

Abstract

This article describes the construction of the ""Libertador San Martín"" bridge that, crossing the Uruguay river, was the first physical link between Uruguay and Argentina. The bridge is built in prestressed concrete, making the maximum use of the prefabrication system. The total length of the bridge is 3.804,35 m. The central span is 220 m long. It was world record for this type of bridges when it was designed (1970) surpassing the Bendorf bridge, over the Rhin river, of 209 m of central span. The article describes the distinct types of structural elements used in its copnstruction and the principal stages of its execution. Finally, the results obtained in the load testing are comment.