Progress Report on the Rio Negro Bridge in Manaus

[amazondk]

We went over to our country place in Paricatuba on Sunday to pick up my mother in law and bring her back to Manaus. The ferry boat now goes under the bridge again as the port in Cacau Pirera where I took pictures on my last thread of the ferry service.

Getting ready to go.

Raquel and the boys. The kids love the trip. But, the line can be a drag.

Daniel in the drivers seat.

The central suspension span is now coming along quickly. It is 200 meters on each side of the central tower of the bridge.

[amazondk]

I have never seen a suspension bridge built before. It is an interesting process.

The suspension cables are in the water ready to be lifted to the tower.

[amazondk]

The side from Manaus is mostly finished now.

The side from Iranduba is still having the bridge deck placed.

[amazondk]

The steel pillars showing are totally covered by water when the river is high water season. This is about the lowest the Negro gets and this year is a large low water level. The bridge is supposed to open the end of November. But, I think that will be more like January.

[Moose]

Wow Don, partying on the ferry boat will be a thing of the past for you very soon. Very interesting pictures, thanks!

Ron.

[amazondk]

Ron,

All things in life change as we know. It will be so nice to get over to my place quickly when I want. The trip back on Monday we left my place at 930 AM and got home at 3 PM. Most of the time was spent in line for the ferry.

dk

[Al in Kona]

Wow, this is one major bridge. Must of cost plenty to build. Will there still be limited ferry service after the bridge is completed? Yes, it will make your trip to Paricatuba more convenient and so much faster. Will there be a toll fee to use the bridge? Thanks again for sharing more from your part of the world. You've enlightened a lot of us about Manaus and Amazonas in general.

[amazondk]

Al,

I do not know what the final cost of the bridge will be. But, the last I heard it was going to be at least 1 billion reais, which is about 600 million USD. The government has not said that there will be a toll or not. But, I would imagine there will be. The ferry boats will no longer be in service here. But, some of them will be moved to the crossing across the Amazon River at the meeting of the waters which goes to the road head of BR 319 to Porto Velho in Rondonia. Although this highway has not been repaired and has about 400 kms which is only passable in 4 x 4 vehicles there are towns on the other side of the river along with farms and ranches that use this crossing and the highway. For me the bridge will totall change the access to my place. Now I just have to make some money to get things fixed up and put a house on the land. I have a lot of the lumber already anyway.

dk

[Gileno Machado]

Magnificent Engineering work, Don. I bet you can't wait to cross this bridge when it's ready...

One more reason to visit you in Paricatuba sometime in the future...

[amazondk]

Gileno,

You will be more than welcome. I think that by January the bridge should be open. It sure did use a lot of ciment, sand, and gravel. Not to mention the reinforcing bar.

dk

[Mark_NoVA]

That is really cool seeing the progression of the bridge construction, through your various threads.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

The bridge is supposed to open the end of November. But, I think that will be more like January.

That is pretty fast construction. Around here, if I saw a bridge in that condition I would say at least another year.

[Jose Maria]

Thank you dk for bringing us these pictures of Brasil, and places like this .It is like we were in that ferry.

[_Keith]

Really great to see such a magnificent engineering project. All we seem to do in the US is complain we don't have enough money to fix the potholes in the roads.

[amazondk]

Keith,

It is a great project. And, as I mentioned will be a real benefit for me. But, Brazil is probably one of the world´s champions for holes in the road. And, it is not a lack of money. Unfortunately there was an accident on Wednesday when a concrete beam that was being placed fell into the river. One of the workers was tied to the beam and he went down with it. The latest news I saw was that the worker was not using his safety line correctly. But, don´t know really what that meant. Maybe it was that he should not have been tied to the beam.

Jerry,

The bridge deck is the only major part left on one side of the river. This actually gets laid pretty fast. I am surprised how fast the suspension span is being laid. I hope that this accident does not slow things down much though.

dk

[amazondk]

Here are a few pictures of the progress on the bridge as of Saturday October 30. The bridge is scheduled to open on November 20th. But, I have my doubts.

My little son Daniel pointing at the bridge.

Raquel and my other son Caio looking at the bridge from the ferry boat.

The suspension spans are getting close to the other side.

[amazondk]

Workers on the central tower of the bridge.

The concrete columns start at approximately the high water level of the river. This year broke a record for low water. The main reason is that the Amazon river which acts like a dam on the Negro had a record low water year.

The dark part on the columns on the other side of the river is where the water was at high water in late June.

The main tower and suspension spans.

[amazondk]

Looking back at the bridge. November 20th seems pretty near to now to finish this. But, at least the end is near.

[MattyB]

The bridge is supposed to open the end of November. But, I think that will be more like January.

That is pretty fast construction. Around here, if I saw a bridge in that condition I would say at least another year.

I was thinking the exact same thing Jerry! hahah That bridge is at least another year out if it was in California. Even once the bridges are done around here they have to wait a few months before traffic can drive on it due to concrete curing regulations.

[amazondk]

Matt,

They still have to put up the guard rails on the unfinished side as well as all the lighting. That alone I do not think they can do in two weeks. As to the concrete curing I really do not know. I think the beams and components have been made some time already. They are staged and waiting to be put on the bridge. But, that is a good point. It is a lot of concrete though. I sure am tired of taking the ferry boat anyway. The bridge will open a whole new era of using my land. It will make a minimum 2 hour trip into a 30 to 40 minute one. The longest trip so far was about 6 hours of sitting around in lines.

dk

[Moose]

Don - my suggestion is don't use it imediately after it opens. Let some "test rats" try it before you do.

Ron.

[BS Man about Palms]

The bridge is supposed to open the end of November. But, I think that will be more like January.

That is pretty fast construction. Around here, if I saw a bridge in that condition I would say at least another year.

I was thinking the exact same thing Jerry! hahah That bridge is at least another year out if it was in California. Even once the bridges are done around here they have to wait a few months before traffic can drive on it due to concrete curing regulations.

Is that why the extra time? I thought it was union folks milking some extra time from a job....

[MattyB]

No Bill, I think it's 28 days minimum since last pour.

[amazondk]

I believe that all the pieces yet to be placed on the bridge have been made for a while already. They have some very sophisticated testing equipment that is used by a Spanish inspection company, if I remember the story right, that signs off on all the structural components. I´ll take a video of my first trip.

dk

[_Keith]

No Bill, I think it's 28 days minimum since last pour.

All depends on the thickness. In around 3 weeks, over 90% of the final strength is typically reached, though it may continue to strengthen for decades.

[Moose]

Well Don, could it be opened by New Year's Day?

Ron.

[amazondk]

Well Don, could it be opened by New Year's Day?

Ron.

Ron,

That would be nice. But, at the last moment they, the state government, announced that they had not included lighting or floating protection barriers around the key columns on the bridge. So, there is a slight cost overrun of around 70 million USD. And, this means that the bridge will be delivered sometime before the end of the first semester 2011. It also means that the politicians are going to up their take on the job. Brazilians just do not do things on time. I hope they get the stadium for the 2014 world cup games done on time.

dk