Soaring over a 300-meter-wide, 40-m-deep canyon, the Chavon River Bridge provides a vital link in the 70-km-long Autopista del Coral project to link Punta Cana and La Romana.

A multinational team collaborated on an innovative method of sliding 1,100-tonne, 303-m-long bridge sections across the gap with hydraulic jacks, concrete cradles and Teflon plates. To compensate for extreme seismic conditions and layers of weak soils, the team designed 1.85-m-diameter piles up to 60 m long, stabilized with polymers instead of bentonite slurry for increased safety and environmental friendliness.

Location La Romana, Dominican Republic

Project Team

Owner Ministry of Public Works and Communication, Dominican Republic

Lead Designer Planservi Engenharia Ltd., São Paulo

General Contractor Odebrecht, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Engineers RMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (structural); Pinsa, Santo Domingo (MEP)

Subcontractors Bauer, Kastrup, Denmark; ALE, Madrid; AJL Engenharia, Salvador, Brazil; TEMEC, Belo Horizonte; TECOMAT, Recife, Brazil; Enpro, Salvador