Rosario and Victoria: never so close
ROSARIO - VICTORIA MOTORWAY BRIDGE, ARGENTINA
With a total area of 2,780,000 km², Argentina is among the world's top ten countries by population: the biggest Spanish-speaking one and eighth largest overall (Russia comes first with 17,075,200 km²).
It spans an immense distance between the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean. Its famous pampas, endless green plains where 'el Caballero misterioso', in the days of Carosello, thrilled entire generations.
The Paranà river flows along the edge of the pampas. Near the delta area, it separates Rosario, the city of Messi and Che Guevara (the third most populous in Argentina) from Victoria. Approximately 60 km as the crow flies was equivalent to 120 km overland until 2003.
However, the Rosario-Victoria motorway link, comprising bridges, viaducts and underground sections, with access to the various islands of the Paraná delta, cut 59.4 km off the distance. Until the opening of this complex infrastructure, the only practicable link was the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel, connecting the cities of Santa Fe and Paraná.
Work began in 1998, at a final cost of more than USD 300 million. However, it repeatedly halted due to the devastating crisis of 2001. The fruit of Argentina's efforts to increase trade with Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay (members of the Mercosur trade bloc) the bridge turned Rosario into the main grain transport and distribution centre.
It created a fast road corridor, which handled more than 75.2 million tonnes of grain in 2021, making Rosario's agribusiness hub the world's second-largest. It also boosted tourism in Victoria and improved connections with the rest of the country.
THE WORK AND THE TECHNIQUE
METERS TOTAL LENGTH OF THE BRIDG
METERS HEIGHT OF MAIN PILES
M³ TOTAL CONCRETE VOLUME
TONS STAYS
M³ DREDGING OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CHANNELS
TONNES IRON ANCHORAGES / POST-TENSIONING
Ministerio de Economía - Comisión Transitoria para Supervisión de Obra y Cumplimiento del Contrato de Concesión
Salini Impregilo (now Webuild), as lead contractor, with Sociedad Concesionaria Puentes Del Litoral SA, Hochtief AG, Techint Compañia Técnica Internacional SA, Benito Roggio, Hijos SA, Iglys SA.
The work, consisting of bridges, viaducts and underground sections, crosses the river's main course, touching down on several islands in the Paraná delta.
CULTURAL INSIGHTS
The new world capital of agricultural logistics
With the construction of the Rosario-Victoria highway connection, drivers and truckers can reach the two cities in just over half an hour. Moreover, this infrastructure has been crucial in boosting commercial integration among Mercosur countries: the areas of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe, separated by the Paranà river, are in fact the core of Argentina’s commercial and industrial growth. It has also enabled Rosario to become South America's most important logistics hub, facilitating the development of a road corridor that links Chile’s Pacific coast with the nations located along the Atlantic.
With shipments of grains, flours, and oils exceeding 75.2 million tons, Rosario’s agrifood hub ranked second in the world in 2021, just behind New Orleans, although the Argentine center is already the global leader in soy and its by-products.
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