The bridge over Rules Reservoir will be closed to traffic owing to the emergency repair work on the sinking pillar at the southern end.

This closure will come into effect on the 9th of September, lasting until the 19th of December. In the meantime, traffic will be diverted down the old GR-323 which runs parallel with the reservoir.

So, traffic will be diverted between the Acebuches/Ízbor junction (167) on the A-44 and the Orgiva/Vélez de Benaudalla junction (175).

Of course, if you want to drain your tank, you can always go via Órgiva, which was the way the Alsina bus used to take whilst they were working on the N-323 before the A-44 and the reservoir existed.

According to the Ministry, Motril Port traffic will be diverted along the old N-323. However, according to Motril Port, these changes will not, in principle, affect traffic. The operation that most concerns the Port Authority is the handling of wind-turbine blades, which will be able to continue without incident.

These wind-turbine blades can be as long as 80 meters long, and use the port to be shipped off to the United States.

During the last emergency operation on the viaduct, which took place between 2014 and 2015, the road was completely closed in several phases over several months, although efforts were made to ensure it was carried out at night. The Government has now decide to carry out the closure affecting the bridge in the autumn after the summer traffic had died down.

As far as the work on the bridge goes, they will be completely replacing one of the pillars, building a new one next to it. They will have to raise the deck (road platform) in order to do this, using hydraulic lifts. This is why the bridge is being temporarily closed.

All told, they have had to carry out five repair operations on the bridge since it was built, which has let to a cost overrun for the project of at least €104 million over two decades.

(News: Velez de Benaudalla, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Bridge, Sinking Support, Pillar Replacement, Road Closure, Divertions, GR-323, A-44

news, andalucia, granada, costa tropical, velez de benaudalla, bridge, sinking support, pillar replacement, road closure, divertions, GR-323, A-44

Reader’s comment: “That bridge collapsed when they were building it before they put the road on it.
It was a twisted mess of blue metal left hanging there for months.” – Gary

Are you sure that you’re not confusing the collapse of the A-7 bridge over Río Verde (Almuñécar) that happened 20 years ago? – Martin