The International Friendship Bridge (in Portuguese Ponte Internacional da Amizade), or simply Friendship Bridge or Ponte da Amizade, was built on the BR-277 highway (former BR-35) towards the end of the '50s and beginning of the '60s over the Paraná River, and connects the cities of Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) and Ciudad del Este (Paraguay).
At the same time as its construction, from the Paraguayan side, construction works were carried out on the then National Route 7 (current Route PY02 "Route 2 (Paraguay)"), which connects to Asunción), which ended up being the Paraguayan head of the bridge, effectively connecting with BR-277 (which crosses through Curitiba and reaches the Atlantic Ocean, in Paranaguá).
Exporters and importers from Foz do Iguaçu operate in the construction function of the Ponte Surgiu. The colonization and inauguration of the city of Puerto Stroessner began, currently called Ciudad del Este, a city that occupies the second largest urban center in Paraguay and its clients in Brazil are close to the low prices of the products sold in the city.[1].
Construction site
The bridge construction treaty was assigned on May 29, 1956 by the governments of Brazil and Paraguay. On November 14, 1956, the commission in charge of the project and execution of the work was created.
The location was defined between five points considered ideal, determined after the execution of hydrological studies of the Paraná River regime over a period of 20 years.
In February 1957, when the bathymetric measurements were being carried out, due to the danger of the river due to its great depth and turbulent waters, a boat sank, drowning the engineer Tasso Costa Rodrigues and some members of his team.
Measurements and structure
The structures and metal materials were brought from the cities of São Paulo, Volta Redonda and Rio de Janeiro.
For the construction of the arch "Arco (construction)") to support the work, the National Steel Company, of Volta Redonda, installed a steel formwork 157.30 meters long with a mass of 1,200 tons.
International construction treaty
Introduction
The International Friendship Bridge (in Portuguese Ponte Internacional da Amizade), or simply Friendship Bridge or Ponte da Amizade, was built on the BR-277 highway (former BR-35) towards the end of the '50s and beginning of the '60s over the Paraná River, and connects the cities of Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) and Ciudad del Este (Paraguay).
At the same time as its construction, from the Paraguayan side, construction works were carried out on the then National Route 7 (current Route PY02 "Route 2 (Paraguay)"), which connects to Asunción), which ended up being the Paraguayan head of the bridge, effectively connecting with BR-277 (which crosses through Curitiba and reaches the Atlantic Ocean, in Paranaguá).
Exporters and importers from Foz do Iguaçu operate in the construction function of the Ponte Surgiu. The colonization and inauguration of the city of Puerto Stroessner began, currently called Ciudad del Este, a city that occupies the second largest urban center in Paraguay and its clients in Brazil are close to the low prices of the products sold in the city.[1].
Construction site
The bridge construction treaty was assigned on May 29, 1956 by the governments of Brazil and Paraguay. On November 14, 1956, the commission in charge of the project and execution of the work was created.
The location was defined between five points considered ideal, determined after the execution of hydrological studies of the Paraná River regime over a period of 20 years.
In February 1957, when the bathymetric measurements were being carried out, due to the danger of the river due to its great depth and turbulent waters, a boat sank, drowning the engineer Tasso Costa Rodrigues and some members of his team.
Measurements and structure
The structures and metal materials were brought from the cities of São Paulo, Volta Redonda and Rio de Janeiro.
Once completed, the Friendship Bridge ended with the following measures:.
• - Total length: 552.4 m.
• - Arc: 303 m.
• - Height: 78 m.
• - Measurement from axis to axis of the margin pylons: 2 x 108.7 m.
• - Number of workers: 1000 workers.
They were used for construction:
• - Reinforced concrete: 43,000 m³ of concrete.
• - Cement: 84,000 tons.
• - Steel: 2,900 tons.
• - Wood: 120,000 m² for shapes, props and scaffolding.
• - Nails "Nail (object)"): 50 tons of nails brought from 20 factories located in the States of Paraná "Paraná (State)"), Santa Catarina and São Paulo "São Paulo (State)").
• - Screws: 12,000 tons from metallurgical companies in São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro "Rio de Janeiro (State)").
• - Construction wires: 33 tons from the Guaíra Siderúrgica de Curitiba.
• - Laminated steel, cables, tacks and high resistance screws for the assembly of the truss.
The Friendship Bridge was the longest of its kind in the world when it was completed in 1962, until the Gladesville Bridge over the Parramatta River, near Sydney, Australia, was inaugurated in 1964.[2].
Environmental impact
About 14 hectares of virgin forest were deforested and 139,000 m² of embankments were created.
To supply drinking water for the operating village, a precarious well 117 meters deep was drilled.
For concreting, it was necessary to install a quarry with the capacity to produce 100 m³ of stone per day. The material was removed from the banks of the Paraná River.
The sand was also removed from the riverbed itself. All the wood used was cut from the region's jungle. Various sawmills were built in the region, which destroyed a large part of the natural tree reserves that were never replanted. The cement used was brought from Curitiba and São Paulo.
Inauguration and economic impact
The International Friendship Bridge was inaugurated twice. The first was purely symbolic, with the work not yet completed; It was in September 1961, and presidents Juscelino Kubitschek (Brazil) and Alfredo Stroessner (Paraguay) participated. The official inauguration with the bridge already in operation took place on March 27, 1965 by Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, president of Brazil, and Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda, president of Paraguay.[2].
As a result of the construction of the bridge, export and import trade emerged in the cities of Ciudad del Este and Foz do Iguaçu. The colonization and inauguration of the city of Puerto Stroessner, current Ciudad del Este, the second largest urban center in Paraguay and considered a free trade zone, began.
• - Tancredo Neves International Bridge.
• - International Integration Bridge.
• - Arch bridge.
• - Annex: Longest arch bridges in the world.
• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on International Friendship Bridge.
References
[1] ↑ «Veja sobre o (Ponte da Amizade) - Informações, horário de funcionamento, endereço e telefone.». www.pontedaamizade.com.: https://www.pontedaamizade.com/
For the construction of the arch "Arco (construction)") to support the work, the National Steel Company, of Volta Redonda, installed a steel formwork 157.30 meters long with a mass of 1,200 tons.
Once completed, the Friendship Bridge ended with the following measures:.
• - Total length: 552.4 m.
• - Arc: 303 m.
• - Height: 78 m.
• - Measurement from axis to axis of the margin pylons: 2 x 108.7 m.
• - Number of workers: 1000 workers.
They were used for construction:
• - Reinforced concrete: 43,000 m³ of concrete.
• - Cement: 84,000 tons.
• - Steel: 2,900 tons.
• - Wood: 120,000 m² for shapes, props and scaffolding.
• - Nails "Nail (object)"): 50 tons of nails brought from 20 factories located in the States of Paraná "Paraná (State)"), Santa Catarina and São Paulo "São Paulo (State)").
• - Screws: 12,000 tons from metallurgical companies in São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro "Rio de Janeiro (State)").
• - Construction wires: 33 tons from the Guaíra Siderúrgica de Curitiba.
• - Laminated steel, cables, tacks and high resistance screws for the assembly of the truss.
The Friendship Bridge was the longest of its kind in the world when it was completed in 1962, until the Gladesville Bridge over the Parramatta River, near Sydney, Australia, was inaugurated in 1964.[2].
Environmental impact
About 14 hectares of virgin forest were deforested and 139,000 m² of embankments were created.
To supply drinking water for the operating village, a precarious well 117 meters deep was drilled.
For concreting, it was necessary to install a quarry with the capacity to produce 100 m³ of stone per day. The material was removed from the banks of the Paraná River.
The sand was also removed from the riverbed itself. All the wood used was cut from the region's jungle. Various sawmills were built in the region, which destroyed a large part of the natural tree reserves that were never replanted. The cement used was brought from Curitiba and São Paulo.
Inauguration and economic impact
The International Friendship Bridge was inaugurated twice. The first was purely symbolic, with the work not yet completed; It was in September 1961, and presidents Juscelino Kubitschek (Brazil) and Alfredo Stroessner (Paraguay) participated. The official inauguration with the bridge already in operation took place on March 27, 1965 by Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, president of Brazil, and Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda, president of Paraguay.[2].
As a result of the construction of the bridge, export and import trade emerged in the cities of Ciudad del Este and Foz do Iguaçu. The colonization and inauguration of the city of Puerto Stroessner, current Ciudad del Este, the second largest urban center in Paraguay and considered a free trade zone, began.
• - Tancredo Neves International Bridge.
• - International Integration Bridge.
• - Arch bridge.
• - Annex: Longest arch bridges in the world.
• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on International Friendship Bridge.
References
[1] ↑ «Veja sobre o (Ponte da Amizade) - Informações, horário de funcionamento, endereço e telefone.». www.pontedaamizade.com.: https://www.pontedaamizade.com/