Bridge mystery ‘solved’

ALCOY’S Fernando Reig suspension bridge remains closed, but engineers now suspect that the La Beniata embankment is causing its problems.

Maintenance work and repairs were already underway at the end of July when workmen and the driver of a cement-mixer lorry at the La Beniata end felt the bridge begin to sway. 

One of the men later told reporters: “It shifted at least a metre.” 

The bridge reopened following a Ministry of Public Works inspection but was closed following another episode on August 8 in which it was said to have started moving inexplicably.

This led experts to begin an examination of the bridge’s suspension cables which subsequently resulted in the declaration that one of them was actually damaged and would need to be replaced.

The La Beniata bank of the River Barxell is known to have stability problems and has affected the city’s Sembenet and Santiago Paya industrial estates as well as the adjoining Calle Doña Amalia.

The Ministry of Public Works has not yet revealed the exact cause of the damage, stating only that the bridge remains closed, that repairs continue and progress “is being made.”

City hall sources nevertheless said that it was “highly likely” that the La Beniata instability was the cause of the damage.