A bridge opens western Greece

Rio-Antirio bridge joining Peloponnese with mainland is set to start operating by early September

AP

The last section of the Rio-Antirio bridge is lowered into place at 7.45 a.m. yesterday, at Rio near Patras, linking the Peloponnese to the western mainland. The bridge has a total length of 2,883 meters — with 2,256 meters of it representing the world’s longest cable-stayed suspended deck in five spans. The three longest spans of the deck are each 560 meters in length. The bridge will be part of the Ionian Highway, which is planned to facilitate transportation to Italy through the northwestern port of Igoumenitsa.

The last section of the Rio-Antirio bridge was lowered into place yesterday, linking the western mainland of Greece with the Peloponnese peninsula and completing a major project which is hoped to spur development in western Greece.

The last surface section (measuring 8 meters by 27.2 meters and weighing 450 tons) was lowered gently into place. The bridge is expected to be open to traffic by early September, as road-surfacing work, lighting, electrical and mechanical equipment and security systems have yet to be completed, as well as the access road linking the bridge to the Patras-Corinth highway.

“Construction of the bridge is finished and we are very happy because the work is progressing very, very well,” said Jean-Paul Teyssandier, president of the Gefyra consortium building the bridge.

The bridge is to be named after Harilaos Trikoupis, the prime minister who first expressed the vision of linking the Peloponnese with the western mainland in a speech in 1889. Trikoupis oversaw the first great modernization of Greece in the late 19th century. The foundation stone was laid on July 19, 1998, and the bridge cost about 770 million euros. It has a total length of 2,883 meters — with 2,256 meters of it representing the world’s longest cable-stayed suspended deck in five spans.

The Olympic Flame relay is scheduled to cross the bridge on August 8, five days before the Athens Games begin. It is about three months ahead of schedule. When the bridge opens to traffic, it is expected to carry about 10,000 vehicles on normal days and more than 25,000 on busy days. The toll is expected to be set at about 9.70 euros per car on a one-way trip, about 40 percent more than the 6.60 euros cars pay now on the small ferry boats that cross the strait. However, cars will cover the distance from Rio to Antirio in less than five minutes, compared to the 25-40 minutes needed to cross by ferry. And that does not count the hours that cars might have to spend waiting on busy days or when bad weather prohibits sailing. Pedestrians will be able to cross the bridge in about 25 minutes, for free. “We imagine we will be able to hand over the bridge for cars between August 12 and the end of August — in the worst case, by early September,” Asclepios Dimoglou, assistant manager of the project, told Mega Channel.

This opening up of Western Greece is expected to help boost economic development in Greece’s poorest region and one of the poorest in the European Union before the latest expansion.

The bridge will have two lanes for traffic in each direction as well as a breakdown lane. It is built to last, as it is designed to withstand earthquakes of more than 7 on the Richter scale, winds of more than 265 kilometers per hour and collision with a ship carrying 180,000 tons.

The Gefyra SA consortium is led by French-based Vinci and includes five Greek companies, Hellenic Technodomiki-TEV, J&P-Avax, Athena, Proodeftiki and Pantechniki. Vinci holds a 53 percent interest in the consortium and the Greek partners the rest.

www.ekathimerini.com . . .

* And for the ones who know him, guess who presents the opening ceremonies?

Thanks Requin, and karma.

Now let's just wait for the usual idiocies from the dark side.

Thanks Pallas, k back. I'm sure we're gonna see pictures of Paris Airport, these French bashers are never tired of it. Let's them playing.

Thanks Pallas, k back. I'm sure were gonna see pictures of Paris Airport, these French bashers are never tired of it. Let's them playing.

Relax. Everything is just fine. It was engineered and built by the French.

*Sigh* So predictable...

The bet would not have been so easy if Uncle_Meat wasn't here.
Thank you U_M !

oopppsss!!!

The toll is expected to be set at about 9.70 euros per car on a one-way trip, about 40 percent more than the 6.60 euros cars pay now on the small ferry boats that cross the strait.

Given Europe's shitty economy and overtaxation, how many gReeks can actually afford to pay about $30(US) to cross this bridge and return? Doesn't sound like the socialists are watching out for the little guy, does it?

As for kOrbach and your shitty avatar, can you name a time when Jew-hating fascists controlled the US government and murdered Jews? So take your avatar and shove it up your grandmother's nazi-love-hole.

If we wanted to be nazis, your filthy cesspool of a country wouldn't exist. By the way, is the a time in YOUR history when Jew-hating fascists controlled the government and murdered Jews?

New bridge, olympics shit Greece is the place to be this month OBL is foaming at the mouth

I suppose that's the only way France could possibly put a Pierre on the moon -- build a really long bridge straight up.

These predictable cheap shots at French engineering make me sick. French engineering has never been in serious question since Gustav Eiffel.

The real questions are (1) how soon will the Greeks call on NATO to help police the new bridge and (2) will they succeed in covering up the embezzled construction funds.

Just another French fey ?

I give you a clue : TF1

K+ RF

As for kOrbach and your shitty avatar, can you name a time when Jew-hating fascists controlled the US government and murdered Jews? So take your avatar and shove it up your grandmother's nazi-love-hole.
If we wanted to be nazis, your filthy cesspool of a country wouldn't exist. By the way, is there a time in YOUR history when Jew-hating fascists controlled the government and murdered Jews?

Fuck korbach in his nasty frog ass. Here is a very well deserved K

Greece celebrates opening of showcase bridge before Olympic torch's passage

Thousands of people gathered at a medieval fortress in western Greece for a colourful celebration to inaugurate the country's showcase Rio-Antirio suspension bridge.

The master of ceremonies at the event to inaugurate the showcase 2.2-kilometre (1.4-mile) bridge that spans the straits separating the Gulf of Corinth from the Gulf of Patras, television presenter Nicos Aliagas told the gathering: "This bridge proves that Greeks are capable of finishing things on time."

The bridge was to to have been completed in November, but authorities pressed for it to be ready before the Olympics, which begin Friday, in order to present it as a symbol of a modern Greece.

On Sunday, the Olympic torch will be carried across the bridge by a relay that will include the coach of Greece's European champion football team, Otto Rehhagel of Germany; his counterpart for the team that will represent Greece at the Games, Stratos Apostolakis, and members of the Olympic football team.

Staff of the French construction firm Vinci, which built the bridge, will also take part in the torch relay.

At the inauguration ceremony, musicians from Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis' orchestra played a selection of his music, which includes the theme for "Zorba the Greek," but 79-year-old Theodorakis was unable to attend the event, after being hospitalized on Thursday.

The gala gave a foretaste of what to expect at the Olympics' opening ceremony on Friday, which will also be presented by Aliagas, a dual French-Greek national.

The Rio-Antirio bridge spans 2,252 meters, suspended between four pylons. Including the ramps leading up to the suspended portion of the structure, the bridge measures 2,883 meters (9,513 feet), making it one of the longest in the world.

Built in an earthquake-prone area, the bridge was built to withstand tremors exceeding 7.0 on the Richter scale. It has withstood several quakes since construction began in 2000.

The bridge will open to traffic on Thursday.

story.news.yahoo.com . . .

K+ Shark!

The fireworks were stunning.

Is that a helicopter in the picture, hovering above it to hold it up? Will four helicopers be a part of the on-going design, stationed to hold it up for-ever, like we always have airplanes in the skies over the U.S., in case of nuclear attack?

Funny , now that the frech have something that they want to believe will be a world achievement they gloat , but recently we heard that such comments were so vulgar. Is there really that big of a double standard ? But I still am waiting to see what major flaws will be found in the bridge ( not that u can really blame it on the french as it was hurried for the olympics ) and if there is flaws what will be the outcome ?

..and if there is flaws what will be the outcome..

Some poor bastard is going to get very wet, that's what.
But it won't be me, just like I am not going to let Charles de Gaulle airport fall on my head or risk plugging some french toaster into the mains.

Allez, on joue aux plus bêtes?

Bridge columns to come down

The contractor relents and agrees that four cracked supports in the Memorial Causeway bridge do, in fact, need to be demolished.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN

Published July 29, 2004


CLEARWATER - The contractor who said it was unnecessary six weeks ago to demolish four cracked columns in the new Memorial Causeway bridge has changed course and agreed to tear them down.
Crews are scheduled to replace the concrete pillars and one footing this fall, the third time in two years that major pieces of the planned $69.3-million city showpiece will be scrapped.
The latest fix, projected to cost contractor PCL Civil Constructors about $25-million, will delay completion of the bridge at least two more years.

In documents obtained by the St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday, the engineer that oversees the bridge builder said the columns, which straddle the channel to Clearwater Harbor and support about 1,362 linear feet of roadway, will be torn down in November.

Company vice president Jerry Harder said Wednesday that PCL is still working out the details. Harder declined to discuss specific plans, and he did not say whether the supported roadway would be demolished as well.

"The columns are coming down, but we're refining the timing of this," Harder said. "If we could do it a little sooner than (November), we would."

Last month, the bridge builder said the supports could be strengthened and sealed at a much lower cost. But state Department of Transportation officials insisted they must be replaced and that PCL pay for repairs. The $25-million cost would be more than half of the company's $48-million construction contract.

Harder declined to say whether his company would contest paying the total cost.

The damaged columns, which cracked during construction, took about nine months and cost about $3-million total t o raise.
"They're working on the timeline and on the plans on how to (replace the columns)," DOT spokeswoman Marian Scorza said. "It takes time to figure out how to do it.

"Our position has never changed. We directed them to remove and replace the cracked columns."

The bridge is now scheduled to be completed June 3, 2006.
Although the new connector to Clearwater Beach was originally supposed to open to traffic last December, Mayor Brian Aungst said building a sound structure is the top priority now.

"This needs to be done correctly," Aungst said. "We stuck by DOT to take this action. It's got to be done correctly. I can tell you, it will probably be one of the most scrutinized rebuilding of piers in the country or the world."

The decision to remove the columns is the result of just one of several mishaps since work on the bridge started in 2002.
This month, a 40-foot section of roadway riddled with cracks was removed after some three dozen fissures were discovered along the south side of the bridge near the mainland. That span was likely damaged earlier this year when 104 feet of road fell 7 inches after scaffolding holding it up buckled.

And in December 2002, crews used explosives to drop an 80-foot span on the west side of Clearwater Harbor after it sank a foot and twisted during construction.

According to DOT officials, the demolition of the piers is the largest forced rebuilding in the agency's history.
Harder, with PCL, has blamed faulty engineering for the cracked columns. Still, state officials say the bridge builder remains responsible.

Harder even said plans could change and the columns could be saved, though he did not indicate how. All work on the center columns has been stopped.

The cracks, discovered early this year, extend 6 inches into the diamond-shaped support columns on both sides of the channel. The damage probably won't cause the bridge to collapse, experts say, but it could shorten the bridge's life span.

Aungst said the 74-foot-tall bridge should last 75 years.
"We're told it can be done right," Aungst said. "Experts say it can be done right, and we are going to make sure it is."
Under the builder's DOT contract, PCL must pay the state $15,089 in damages for every day the bridge is not finished after July 23. Harder said those fines are accumulating.

Away from the construction site, residents who live near the bridge were disappointed to learn the hum of construction work will continue until summer 2006.

Cleita Karns, a 78-year-old who lives at condominiums that front the construction on nearby Pierce Street, waits for the day work is completed and her waterfront view is restored.

"Gosh, one of these days we're going to have a beautiful view under there," said Karns, looking out over Clearwater Harbor. "Two years, that doesn't sound too good. I might be dead by then.

"I hope not."

- Aaron Sharockman

K back Atlantic!

fireworks were stunning.

Were you there or did you just see it on TV?