Motorway to La Herradura open in 18 months
BY DAVE JAMIESON
THE NEXT STRETCH OF THE COASTAL MOTORWAY WILL REACH LA HERRADURA IN 18 MONTHS. DOMINGO QUESADA OF EASTERN ANDALUCÍA’S ROAD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME VISITED THE CONSTRUCTION LAST WEEK AND CONFIRMED THAT THE A-7 AUTOVÍA EASTWARDS FROM MARO IS MAKING GOOD PROGRESS AND IS SCHEDULED FOR FORMAL OPENING IN FEBRUARY, 2006.
The 9.4 kilometres covers a very difficult and rocky terrain and the Ministry of Development says the cost of 102.95 million euros is double the average for Spain and will remain the most expensive in the country’s history, until the next stretch, from La Herradura to Taramay, is constructed.
Forty per cent of the dual-carriageway to La Herradura consists of viaducts or tunnels, including a bridge of 380 metres long rising 100 metres above the River Miel and a tunnel of 1.4 kilometres at Marchante.
Ecological concerns have been to the fore during construction as the first six kilometres passes along the border of two protected areas, the natural parks of Maro – Cerro Gordo and the Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Sierras. Hollows have been built into the concrete supports which will carry the road high above the countryside to provide homes for colonies of bats, while porcelain dishes have been provided to form an “ecological city” where peregrine falcons can nest and rear their young.
200 workers are operating in shifts 24 hours a day to complete the road on schedule, while construction records are being broken or set all the time. The viaduct over the River Miel is composed of 28 metre long spans, manufactured in Utrera and transported to Nerja overnight to avoid traffic disruption, then hoisted into place with cranes capable of lifting 2,200 tons. The work, which began in 2002, is now estimated to be 50 per cent complete.
WORK STARTS FROM LA HERRADURA TO ADRA
Beyond La Herradura, work has started on three further stretches - 9.5 kilometres to Taramay, 12 kilometres to Motril and the final 46 kilometres to Adra - which will link with the existing motorway to complete the autovía along the entire length of Spain’s Mediterranean coast.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Motril has urged the Government to keep its promise and ensure that the motorway being built south from Granada reaches his town by 2007. Carlos Rojas criticised the Development Minister, Magdalena Álvarez, for not visiting the construction during a recent tour of infrastructure developments around the country, claiming that the Granada coast was largely “forgotten” for years. When completed, the Granada to Motril motorway will link with the coastal motorway to form a huge, inverted letter T on the Spanish roadways map.
