The new bridge over the River Gilão, which will replace the military bridge, a temporary structure that has been in use for 27 years, will start to be built after the summer, in «October or November».
Jorge Botelho, president of the Chamber of Tavira, said in an interview with Sul Informação that «he plans to take the deliberation on the launch of the competition to the Chamber meeting, still in January, and to the Municipal Assembly, in February», when the competition should be launched.
According to the mayor, "the project is ready to be put out to tender at any time and the Chamber has the financial means to support the projected value, which is 1,5 million euros."
The work on the ground will be for after the summer. «We have the summer in Tavira, the Mediterranean Diet Fair, the Youth Week, that's our dynamic and I hope, in October or November, to have the work on the ground, with the competition concluded», explained the mayor of Tavira.
Jorge Botelho revealed that the “new bridge will be built in precisely the same place as the previous one, which has been there for 27 years. We have all the opinions, we have the design, the architecture». The new infrastructure will be “a concrete bridge, 88 meters long, with a pedestrian and cycle path and a transit lane, because this is an investment projected over the years. So it has the possibility of being open or closed to traffic».
The images of the architecture of the new bridge did not please all the people of Tavir and, on social networks, there are those who criticized the project. However, Jorge Botelho guarantees that «the bridge is more beautiful in reality than in the presented drawings» and that «there will be a public presentation session, with the architect Appleton, to show the details» of the new crossing.
“When an engineering work is carried out in the center of Tavira, there is never a consensus. There are those who argue that it should be an architect's project on an international scale, others argue that it should be something disappearing into the landscape, and there are those who say that it should be a work of exceptional engineering and architecture, a unique piece. However, our idea is that no bridge should distort, or compete with, the medieval or Roman bridge, as it is commonly called. This is our ex-libris, it is part of our heritage and all the others are ways of crossing the city», explains the mayor.
Jorge Botelho considers that the construction of the new bridge “was expressly validated by the people in the Municipal Elections”, because “the bridge was in the electoral program and was a discussed topic”.
For Jorge Botelho, «what matters is connecting the two shores to provide sustained development and investment in both. The right bank of the River Gilão is more developed and there are investors who are waiting for signals from the Chamber to promote the development of the other bank of the river», he concluded.
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