The government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, held a working meeting this Wednesday at the headquarters of the Delegation with the mayor of Pontedeume, Bernardo Fernández, in which they analyzed the progress of the works of expansion of the historic bridge of the N-651 that communicates the town with the neighboring concello of Cabanas and that is part of the English Way.
At the meeting, in which the Government’s deputy delegate in A Coruña, María Rivas, and the head of the Road Demarcation in Galicia, Ángel González del Río, were also present, the Eumés delegate and councillor addressed technical issues related to the works that the Government undertakes in this infrastructure and that will allow to improve the fluidity of communications between both sides of the mouth of the Eume.
The bridge over the river Eume, from the 19th century, currently supports very intense traffic, both road and pedestrian, being also part of the itinerary of the English Way to Santiago de Compostela. Every day, 10,000 vehicles travel through this stretch, rising to 15,000 during the summer.
The infrastructure presents a triple problem. On the one hand, it is necessary to improve the foundation conditions of the bridge. For this, the work will improve the support stratum through columns of Jet Grouting that will be executed from the current roadway of the bridge.
On the other hand, the current platform of the bridge is narrow and the arrangement of the elements on it (lighting poles, railing, signage, etc.) It does not facilitate pedestrian traffic in ideal conditions of accessibility and safety. For this reason, a new board will be available, wider than the current one, which allows to have wider sidewalks, as well as a vehicle containment element, new lighting and railings as well as a new drainage system.
Finally, in the elevations (stone masonry) of the bridge will be undertaken the necessary cleaning works and the reconstruction of the masonry, collected and applying protection treatments.