Monitoring Mascarat bridge between Altea and Calpe, Costa Blanca

TRAINS stopped running for two days between Altea’s La Olla station and Calpe for work on the 105-year-old Mascarat bridge. Regional rail operator FGV provided a bus service to cover this section of Line 9 while engineers installed software that will monitor the bridge, alerting to any change or reaction in the structure. The Mascarat viaduct was dismantled and rehabilitated during track renovations between Altea and Calpe that began in autumn 2015 and finished the following spring.
The railway bridge over the Algar in Altea was reconditioned at the same time, while the Quisi viaduct in Benisssa was overhauled last year. Like the Mascarat bridge, both date from 1915 and will be equipped with the same monitoring system, FGV said. At present, Line 9 trains linking Benidorm and Denia go no further than Calpe during an extensive multimillion modernisation project. This is expected to conclude by mid-2021 announced Arcadi España, who heads the regional government’s Public Works and Transport department.