Chile partially reopens Cau Cau bridge

Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and public works minister Juan Andrés Fontaine took part in a ceremony Wednesday to partially reopen the Cau Cau bascule bridge, which connects the island of Teja with the city of Valdivia in the Los Ríos region, after it was closed since 2015 due to technical failures in its hydraulics system.

"We're very aware that Valdivians have anxiously awaited this day for four years... and that despite all the frustrations, humiliations, today we're finally putting this bridge into preliminary operation," Piñera said in a release from the public works ministry (MOP).

The bridge will only be raised twice a month to allow the passage of ships along the Valdivia river. The rest of the time it only allow the transit of light vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians will be allowed across the structure. It will also have a speed restriction, with vehicles limited to 20km/h.

As for the definitive solution for the bridge, Fontaine said that studies are being carried by US-based firm Modjeski & Masters (M&M). "Once that report is finished, which we hope to disclose in October, there's going to be a design stage and then a construction stage with that solution," he stated.

A spokesperson from the MOP told BNamericas that the deadlines for the designs and construction pahses "will depend on the report that M&M will deliver in October."

Shortly after taking office, the current government pulled back on plans to completely rebuild the bridge, arguing that it would take too long and would cost up to 16bn pesos (US$24mn). In comparison, repairing solely the spans of the bridge or replacing the lifting system would cost between 6.1bn and 13.7bn pesos.