The Project
The first single span bridge of its kind in Central America, featuring a functionally important infrastructure by linking two riversides while expressing the country’s identity. The Haulover Bridge project was started when the Ministry of Works and Transport of Belize called for the relevant tender funded by the CDB, the Caribbean Development Bank.
The existing Haulover Bridge, located up north on the Philip Goldson motorway, is a metal structure built in 1947 to ease road traffic between Belize City and the international airport. The existing structure is formed of a 5 meters wide carriageway, double-lane, one lane per direction; it rests on reinforced concrete shoulders and 4 piles positioned on the Belize River bed.
The project, supervised by Politecnica, features the construction of a new bridge and related road approaches. The new design provides a single steel-concrete span, 150 meters long and 14 meters wide. It consists of a double-lane carriageway, two sidewalks, street lighting and safety devices.
At preliminary design stage, three different technical options were studied and offered to the client, for effective cost/benefit comparison: a truss bridge option, a cable-stayed bridge option and a double-arch bridge solution. The Client selected the last option, with lower roadway structure, due to its iconic characteristics and landscape value also.
The use of BIM methodology all through the design and works management stages enhanced the project development quality assuring the compliance with Climate Change Vulnerability standards and AASHTO-LRFD regulations.
