Bridge of the Americas reopened

PANAMA. The first of the three renovation phases of the Bridge of the Americas was completed yesterday and will increase the life of the structure by approximately 40 years.

The fourth lane of the bridge that has been closed for the last few months wasfinally opened, which will help with the traffic congestion in in that area.

The deputy minister of Public Works, Julio Hernandez said that it has taken a year to complete the first phase of changing of the cables and repairing the structure at a cost of $12.5 million.

During the second phase the structure will be painted and in the third one the roads will be resurfaced. The director of Special Projects, Carlos Ho said that approximately 178 cables were changed. The Bridge of the Americas was built between 1958 and 1962 at a cost of $20 million. It is a cantiliver type structure and has an elevation of 118 meters over the sea level.