The old Ponte D. Maria, in Lagos, reopens today, in the late afternoon, after months of works and more than three years of closing to traffic for safety reasons.
The bridge reopens but with new conditions, with the arches reinforced by piles, a new lighter deck adapted to car traffic, but with two side aisles, one for pedestrians only, the other also with a cycle path for bicycles.
Last August, upon signing the works contract for the work, Chamber president Maria Joaquina Matos had told the Sul Informação that the creation of these two wide side aisles are “a way of extending the avenue's sidewalk, which will thus pass from one side to the other”.
In total, the works, which began in September of last year and cost around 870 thousand euros, were delayed by about a month and a half, but are still reopening in time to facilitate, during this congested month of August, the connection between Lagos and Meia Praia.
Chamber source told the Sul Informação that, in recent days, load tests have been carried out, with horizontal and vertical signage already fully installed.
Yesterday, during the day, the construction workers were dedicated to the finishing touches, as well as removing the fences and fences, as can be seen in the photos.
Despite being fully completed in terms of foundations and deck, the painting of the bridge's arches is still ongoing, so the scaffolding mounted laterally will only later be removed.
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.
The work received a contribution of around 65%, from community funds, through the PO Algarve 21, with the remainder being provided by the municipality of Lagos.
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