Nuevo San Juan, La Lima
Road and Bridge
The existing bridge is located in Nuevo San Juan along the main north-south road leading from the municipal center of La Lima toward the towns of Cruz de Valencia and El Paraiso. The bridge has tracks welded together to form girders.
The proposed structure will consist of corrugated aluminum arches bolted onto reinforced concrete piers and abutments founded on concrete pilings. This will provide clearance of the canal cross section and headroom for debris floating on the surface of floods.
The arches proposed are readily erected using local, unskilled labor, and no heavy lift equipment. The access road to Nuevo San Juan is on a low, depressed profile along much of its alignment leaving it susceptible to flooding and rutting. Because of the low profile and lack of drainage, there are long segments that are constantly wet, soft, and require either a high wheel base or four wheel drive vehicle to navigate it.
Two local engineers, Alma Mendoza and Roberto Torres, have been commissioned by the municipality to design the road leading up to the bridge at Nuevo San Juan. The road is proposed to be a seven-meter wide Portland Cement Concrete road.