The contract for the rehabilitation and structural reinforcement of the Ponte D. Maria, in Lagos, which will cost 870.044,27 euros, was signed this Thursday, August 21, between the Municipality of Lagos and the company Extraco Construccións e Proxetos SA
The project has an execution period of 240 days, in order to be ready «by June of next year», revealed Joaquina Matos, Mayor of Lagos, in statements to the Sul Informação. For this, the works should start in September, «with the assembly of shipyards». "We want the bridge to be completed for use next summer," added the mayor.
The Bridge D. Maria II, which has been banned from car traffic since February 11, 2012, by order of the Chamber, after an inspection by the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC) detected problems in the structure, connects the two banks of the Bensafrim stream, between the city of Lagos and the Marina and Meia Praia area.
Joaquina Matos explained to Sul Informação that the intervention involves the “rehabilitation of the old part of the bridge, namely its characteristic arches, which will be reinforced by piles. On top, it will carry an entirely new deck, with the contract foreseeing its paving, electrification, the passage of all infrastructures that currently use the bridge to a less visible position».
“There will be, as I usually say, 'two bridges from different times overlapping in space', stressed the mayor of Lagos.
The mayor also said that, in this new version of the Ponte D. Maria, «the deck will be widened, thus allowing the return of car traffic, but it will also be a very generous work for pedestrians and cyclists». The fact is that, he revealed, the bridge will have two wide lanes for pedestrians and a bicycle path, 2,5 meters and 3 meters wide, on each side of the board. “It will be a way of extending the avenue's promenade, which will thus pass from one side to the other”, concluded Joaquina Matos.
The mayor classifies the award of the contract as "a very important moment for Lagos", as it allows "to move forward with the work and resolve a situation of accessibility, vital for the connection between banks and the proper functioning of equipment (school and others), hotels, businesses and commerce, the Marina and port and railway infrastructures, which, since 2012, when the bridge had to be closed for safety reasons, had been suffering losses in their activities».
The contract had been subject to an international public tender, with a base price of 950 euros, ending up being awarded for a lower price.
When the competition was opened last May, the mayor expressed her “huge satisfaction at having managed to respond to a great longing of the population”.
He then recalled that the approval of the candidacy for PO Algarve21 by the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) and the close collaboration between the services of the Chamber, the municipal company Futurlagos, contributed a great deal to this outcome. the design team, Consulmar – Projetistas e Consultores Lda, and the team that promoted the project review, Raiz – Consultores Lda.
On the occasion, the mayor also highlighted the cooperation, in terms of speed, of the various entities that issued opinions on the project, namely the Portuguese Environment Agency, the Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve, Águas do Algarve and EDP, which also contributed so that it was possible to comply with the established and necessary timetable for the launch of the project.
The work will be supported by around 65%, by community funds (application already approved for PO Algarve 21), with the remainder being provided by the municipality. The work is expected to be completed by the end of June 2015.
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