Xalapa Bridge
Xalapa Bridge
Puente Xalapa
Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
453 feet high / 138 meters high
476 foot span / 145 meter span
2012
Completed in late 2012, the Xalapa Bridge is the largest structure on the 60 kilometer Xalapa Bypass highway. By cutting a new route north of the capital city of Veracruz, travelers can avoid the congested, dangerous and slow moving 2-lane road. The new route 140 breaks off from original Veracruz-Xalapa highway about 20 kilometers east of the city, crossing several small canyons before a long elevation rise to the highlands northwest of Xalapa and the small city of Perote where the route continue on to Puebla and Mexico City. The new route will offer a relief to those who live along the main Avenida Lazaro Cardenas in downtown Xalapa where trucks and other heavy vehicles were a common site on the way to Mexico City or Veracruz.
The cantilever beam bridge measures 470 meters long with span configuration of 90 + 145 x 2 + 90 meters. The tapered box beam is 6 meters wide at the base and supports a road deck 17.9 meters wide.
Also on the Xalapa Bypass route are the double cantilever beam bridge El Cimarrón which has a single pier that drops almost 90 meters to the floor of a deep canyon as well as the 3-span Dos Ríos Bridge which is more then 55 meters high.
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A view looking straight down the north side of the tallest pier. A small waterfall is located just downstream of the crossing. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Xalapa Bridge deck cross section. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
I have no idea what this mass of rock is or how it came to be. Does anyone know more? Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A view looking straight down the south side of the tallest pier. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
A view looking upstream. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
Nothing like a lunchtime siesta! Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
When completed, the México-Tuxpan highway will connect Mexico City with the Gulf of Mexico 182 miles (293 kms) away.
The new carretera will open up new trade routes to the interior of the country as well as Mexico City.
San Marcos Bridge access roads topographic map.
San Marcos Bridge satellite image showing the long and deep gorge of the San Marcos River.