Baluarte Bridge

Baluarte Bridge

Puente Baluarte
Baluarte Bridge shortly after completion,
10 March 2012
Coordinates23°32′03″N 105°45′46″W / 23.53417°N 105.76278°W / 23.53417; -105.76278
Carries4 lanes of Fed. 40 Durango, Mazatlán
CrossesBaluarte River
LocaleConcordia in Sinaloa and Pueblo Nuevo in Durango, Mexico
Official namePuente Baluarte Bicentenario
Characteristics
DesignCable-stayed bridge
MaterialPrestressed concrete
Total length1,124 m (3,688 ft)
Width19.8 m (65 ft)
Longest span520 m (1,710 ft)
Clearance below403 m (1,322 ft)
History
Construction start21 February 2008 (2008-02-21)
Construction end(inaugurated) 5 January 2012
Openedlate 2013
Location

The Baluarte Bridge (Spanish: Puente Baluarte), officially the Baluarte Bicentennial Bridge (Spanish: Puente Baluarte Bicentenario), is a cable-stayed bridge in Mexico. It is located between the municipalities of Concordia in Sinaloa and Pueblo Nuevo in Durango, along the Durango–Mazatlán highway, Mexico 40D. The bridge has a total length of 1,124 m (3,688 ft), with a central cable-stayed span of 520 m (1,710 ft). With the road deck at 403 m (1,322 ft) above the valley below, the Baluarte Bridge is the third-highest cable-stayed bridge in the world, the eighth-highest bridge overall, and the highest bridge in the Americas.

Construction of the bridge began in 2008, it was inaugurated in January 2012 and opened to traffic in late 2013. The bridge forms part of a new highway linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of northern Mexico and has reduced the travelling time between Durango and Mazatlán from approximately 6 to 2.5 hours.