Peru's Bridges: Puente Bolivar (4)

One last photo of Puente Bolivar. There's something strange about such a long viaduct that carries only a single lane of traffic. It's as if each car was a tiny train on its long trip above the valley floor.

Perhaps the City of Arequipa just needed an excuse to keep the bridge in service. There are alternative routes half a mile to the north and south. Also, there are wide sidewalks on both sides of the deck, so the bridge's main purpose may be as a pedestrian overcrossing.

I was looking through the blogs and websites for information about Puente Bolivar and I found a comment from a Peruvian that Gustave Eiffel hadn't really designed this bridge. According to the writer, an architect had done some research and it was just a myth!

Based on its appearance, I find it hard to say whether Puente Bolivar is the work of Gustave Eiffel. Ponte Maria Pia and the Garabit Viaduct are magnificent structures that look like the Eiffel Tower turned into bridges (see David Billington's The Tower and The Bridge). They don't seem to have anything in common with this rather plain structure. Ponte Internationale and the Rouzat Viaduct have interesting superstructures rather than the rather plain triangular truss elements on Puente Bolivar. Still, there is something evocative of Eiffel in this structure. I just don't think it's one of his major works.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Bolivar (4) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Bolivar (3)

Another view of Gustave Eiffel's Puente Bolivar (Puente de Fierro). This bridge was built out of little more than small angles, rods, and plates. It was designed by Eiffel and the plans and parts were sent from Europe to be assembled at the site. It's hard to imagine that this delicate structure ever supported a steam locomotive.

The towers are bolted to stone masonry piers. Diagonal elements provide lateral stability to the four tower legs. Floor beams are at each vertical member and support a concrete deck. I like the lace-like railing on the deck. I wonder if it was part of the original structure or if it was added later?

It seems strange to have such a long viaduct just to cross the Rio Chili. Perhaps it was economical to build a 500 meter long viaduct so that the track could maintain it's grade across the valley. In the map below, we can see to the east of the bridge an railroad yard and train station whose tracks used to go onto the bridge.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Bolivar (3) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.