By Carola Rico
According to official data from the State Government, the new Cieneguita Bridge will cost 2.9 million pesos more than was projected, and will take an additional 90 business days to complete. The ford that has existed in the Cieneguita community has become a major crossroad for the city. Last year, shortly before the reconstruction work began, the crossing was closed to vehicles because the river had overflowed. In order to avoid accidents, cars had to travel along the San Miguel-Guanajuato highway around the Presa Allende and cross over the Allende Dam.
On April 1, 2021, the state governor, Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo, formally initiated construction of the Cieneguita Ford, making it an actual bridge for vehicles. This will directly benefit more than 70,000 residents in the area, including some of the rural communities of San Miguel de Allende, which are left incommunicado every time there is heavy rainfall. In addition to this benefit, the Cieneguita Bridge will be more secure and will provide another option to access the city through the train station area.
Before beginning construction of the bridge, representatives of the municipal government spoke with owners of the surrounding land and with the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) in order to get authorization and corresponding permits. The Secretary of Infrastructure, Connectivity and Mobility of the state, José Tarcisio Rodríguez, explained that the project consists of the construction of a vehicle bridge with two traffic lanes over the Laja River. The total width will be 15 meters, including shoulders and other structures.
The work includes upgrading a 500-meter length of the current road, and the construction of a 340-meter section of the bridge which will join the existing roads. This adds 936 meters to the total length between the roads and the bridge. The structure will consist of three clearings of 32 meters and two intermediate pylons. In addition, there will be lighting, relocation of facilities of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), storm drainage, and environmental actions. Urban images and signs are being considered as well. This new structure and the road will allow a continuous flow of traffic, and provide vehicles with a safe crossing of the Laja River. It is estimated that the road has a capacity of 3,831 vehicles per day.
As originally planned, bridge construction was expected to last 209 days. However, to date more than 390 days have passed since the work began. The work was stopped for about two months because the water level was too high to allow the last pylon to be put in place. «By September 30, 2021, the construction of the vehicle bridge had progressed by 74.95 percent,» as reported by Tarcisio Rodríguez Martínez, head of the Offices of Infrastructure, Connectivity and Mobility (SICOM).
Atencion San Miguel requested the latest information regarding the construction of the bridge from SICOM. On April 19 of this year, we received the following:
Initial investment amount: $79,440,451
Importance of the work: The construction of La Cieneguita vehicle bridge will directly benefit more than 70,000 residents of this area. The structure and the road will allow continuous traffic flow, in addition it will allowing for safe crossing of the Laja River .
Scopes: Construction of a vehicle bridge with two traffic lanes over the Laja River, 97 meters in length.
- Modernization of a 500-meter section of access on the San Miguel de Allende-Atotonilco highway
- Construction of 340 meters of approaches for access to the bridge
- A total length of 937 meters of roads and vehicle bridge
- The structure will be made up of three sections of 32 meters each, two intermediate piers, with 15 meters being the total width of the structure, with sidewalks and garrisons
It also includes: - lighting
- Road drainage works
- Relocation of CFE facilities
- Storm drain
- Construction of shelters
- Urban image according to the condition of the work
- Operational signs
- The road will have an approximate capacity of 2,545 vehicles
Advance: As of today it is 86.59 percent completed.
Status of the work: - The contract for current work was terminated because the high-water level did not allow for continuation or completion of the works.
- It should be noted that there is constant communication with the Irrigation District regarding the water level. When the waters of the River Laja recede sufficiently, work will resume.
- Over the next two weeks we will be in a position to start the bidding process for the work. There should be a decision at the end of the second week of May, with work expected to start in the second half of May.
- The completion of the work is expected to be done in 90 days.
- The budget for this new stage is 9.59 million pesos.
- The amount spent up to now has been 72.8 million pesos. This, in addition to what is being budgeted for the final stage, will bring the total investment to 82.4 million pesos.
- The increase in cost with respect to what was previously budgeted, is due to the higher costs in current valuation.
