Rande Bridge

Rande Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that links the strips of land of the Strait of Rande on the ria (or ria) of Vigo. It was designed by Italian engineer Fabrizio de Miranda, the Spaniard Florencio del Pozo (who was also in charge of its foundations) and Alfredo Passaro. The bridge was built in 1978. It forms part of the Atlantico toll road. It was exclusively a toll bridge until 2006; the toll was abolished in the section between Vigo and O Morrazo but there is still a toll on the other routes.

Rande Bridge

Crosses                     Ria of Vigo

Locale                      Vigo, Galicia, Spain

Design                      Cable-stayed, viaducts

Longest span           401 m

Total length             1.558 km

Width                       23.46 m

Opening date           1981

It has a length of 1,558 metres, its pillars have a height of 148 metres and its main span measures 401 metres. Although it was not the biggest (cable-stayed) span in the world when it opened, it was the longest span with more than two lanes. The bridge, which links Redondela and Moana through the Strait of Rande, is an emblematic piece of engineering in the ria of Vigo.

It currently carries around 50,000 vehicles per day. It is believed that there will be congestion problems in the near future, so several alternatives are being planned. Since its opening to traffic in 1981, 231 million vehicles have passed through it. It cost 3.658 billion pesetas to build at the time and it has been recouped several times thanks to the recently-abolished tolls (23 May 2006). As a result of the rise in traffic every year, a new bridge is being planned for the Ria in order to distribute traffic evenly. The new bridge will perhaps be on the eastern side of Vigo city, linking the Bouzas bypass to the O Morrazo highway in Cangas, although a very long bridge would be required; a tunnel has also been proposed but this could be much more complex.