With the aim of improving the connections between the "Constitución" and "Los Castros" Avenues, Santander Council entrusted Arenas & Asociados the works to achieve it. A concrete arch bridge was proposed for bridging the gap of "Las Llamas" valley. The slender arch with variable depth, real shell vault, has become the gate of the Atlantic Park, a matchless framework of the "Picos de Europa", which can be contemplated from there. It should be pointed that the city council, in homage to the professional and academic career developed by Professor Arenas from Santander, decided to name the bridge "Juan José Arenas".
With 102.00 m between abutments, the arch is developed over the deck in the 60 central meters, continuing under the deck as inclined straight feet until meeting the supports, materialized in inclined steel hinges, oriented by the edges of those inclined feet, being the lengthwise separation between them 81.60 m.
The bridge in projected entirely in concrete, being the deck organized into a central hollow box girder and two lateral cantilevers. The central box is 5.80 m wide and 2.25 m in deep, while the cantilevers, conceived as precast slabs of 9.00 m large, have skylights with light projectors to illuminate the ground level under the bridge. Over the cantilevers, a slab with 25 cm of depth is materialized having on its exterior sides the sidewalks which are made of technological wood composite decking.
Owner: Ayuntamiento de Santander
Project: Arenas & Asociados
Total length: 102 m. Deck width: 24 m. Main span: 102 m
Contractor: Isolux Corsán
Arenas & Asociados’ Role: Complete project developer
