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Amistad Costa Rica
mageba has recently supplied the bridge bearings and expansion joints needed for the renovation of a key cable-supported bridge in western Costa Rica.
The Puente La Amistad (“Friendship Bridge”) over the Tempisque River serves as a vital connection between Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula and the rest of the country. The bridge was constructed in 2003, but damaged in the 2012 Costa Rica earthquake that had its epicenter on the peninsula. To enable it to optimally complete its originally planned service life of 100 years, it was deemed necessary to carry out significant repair and renovation works.
The bridge has a total length of 780m, including a 260m-long cable-stayed structure. To support the renovation works, mageba designed and fabricated the following products to replace the existing key components:
Ten RESTON®SPHERICAL bearings designed to carry loads of up to 4,000KN and to facilitate displacements of up to +/- 100mm – eight of the guided-sliding type (“KE”) and two of the free-sliding variety (“KA”)
Four TENSA®MODULAR expansion joints with up to four individual movement gaps – each designed for longitudinal movements of up to 320mm (+/-160mm) and transverse movements of +/-20mm
12.85m of TENSA®COMPRESS expansion joint of type A45-30, which offers a movement capacity of 30mm
These movement devices have been designed, manufactured and delivered to site in the short timeframe available, and installation is currently ongoing with mageba technical support – hopefully just the first stage of what will be a long and successful friendship between mageba and the bridge’s owner, operator and constructor.
Client: Hulera Costarricense LTDA
Owner: Costa Rica Government
Contractor: Estrumet Metalmecánica
