Tag Archives: Inter-American Highway

The Centennial Bridge

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For more than 30 years, the only fixed crossing of the Panama Canal was the Bridge of the Americas, and although this allowed two-lanes of traffic in each direction, it was not designed to cope with the levels of traffic that were using it by the end of the twentieth century. Originally, it carried around 9,500 vehicles per day, but by the time that the Centennial Bridge opened it was carrying more than 35,000 vehicles every day.

Since the Bridge of the Americas represented a major bottleneck in the Pan-American Highway, the Panamanian government decided that a second fixed crossing was needed, and in 2000, Panama’s Ministry of peoples Works invited tenders for a second canal crossing. The contract to construct the bridge was awarded in March 2002m and a very ambitious construction schedule was set in order that the bridge could be inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the first ship transit of the Panama Canal by the cargo ship Ancon, on 15 August 1914.

The bridge was named for Panama’s centennial (100 year anniversary of the establishment of the independent nation), which occurred on 3 November 2003. The bridge was designed as a joint venture between T.Y. Lin International and the Louis Berger Group Inc, and constructed by German based Bilfinger Berger utilizing resources from its Australian subsidiary Baulderstone Hornibrook. Boston-based transportation architect Miguel Rosales from Rosales + Partners created the concept and initial aesthetic designs for the Panama-Centennial Bridge. Structural engineering contracts were awarded to Leonhardt, Andrä and Partner.

The bridge was inaugurated on schedule on 15 August 2004, although it was opened for traffic on 2 September 2005, when the new highways leading to it were finished. The bridge is designed to withstand the earthquakes which are frequently recorded in the canal area, and was built with the west tower approximately 50 meters inland to allow for the planned canal widening. The bridge is a cable stayed design with a total length of 1,052m and a central span of 420m. With 80 meters of clearance above the waters of the can, it is significantly higher than the Bridge of the Americas.

The Centennial Bridge is 15km north (inland) of the Bridge of the Americas, and crosses the famous Gaillard Cut section of the Panama Canal close to the Pedro Miguel locks. New road links connecting Arraijan in the west to Cerro Patacon in the east via the bridge, enabled the new bridge to provide the alleviation of traffic on the Bridge of Americas for which it was designed. The rapid construction schedule did prove to have some consequences, and in December 2010, the sub-standard construction of one of the access roads was demonstrated when heavy rains and flooding caused it to collapse.

The Inter-American Highway

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The Inter-American Highway is the common name for the section of the Pan-American Highway that runs from Nuevo Laredo in Mexico (close to the border with the US) to Panama City in Panama. For Panamanians, it provides the link to other Central American countries, and beyond, through the Pan-American highway to the USA and Canada. With the Panama Canal, the highway helped contribute to Panama’s position as a crossroads for world trade – though, with the Darien Gap creating a barrier to direct transport links to South America, it is technically a ‘T’ junction, not a crossroads.

There had long been a desire to link the Panama Canal and its associated port facilities with other countries, for the Americans who the operated the Canal, it would reduce the risk of alternative canal proposals being built, by allowing neighboring countries to benefit from its trade links. It would also provide an alternative link to the US Canal Zone, as an alternative to sea crossings.

In 1923, with the agreement of many Central American countries, the US began a project to use their new photo-reconnaissance aircraft to conduct aerial surveys and mapping of the Central American republics. This laid the foundations for a new road, allowing engineers to plan routes and estimate bridging and tunnelling costs. However, it was World War II which spurred construction. Aware of the risks to their supply lines between the USA and the Canal Zone presented by German U-boats, construction of an overland link became a prudent precaution.

As with the final Panama Canal project, construction was led by US engineers and administrators. Many sections of the road that would become part of the Inter-American Highway had been built by individual countries independently before 1940. However, these roads linked specific cities only and were of variable quality. Progress on construction was slow, with multiple obstacles to be overcome and often very remote construction sites. Nevertheless, construction progressed rapidly, though not quickly enough to see the road finished before World War II ended in 1945.

In 1946, a route was ready for inspection by U.S. diplomats and engineers, but it was far from being the finished article, and much was only passable by four-wheel drive or tracked vehicles. It would take until 1967 until the road was completed, and even today, there is no connection beyond Panama, presenting a huge barrier to trade and prosperity in the region.