An innovative record setter

Cuenca premieres a ground-breaking walkway across the Jucar River: the longest stressed ribbon bridge in Spain and eighth in the world.

The city of Cuenca in central Spain has welcomed a sustainable solution reducing by 20 minutes the walk between the city center and the university campus and General Hospital.

The solution has been provided by ACCIONA Infrastructure: a stressed ribbon bridge for pedestrians and cyclists, 216 meters long and 3 meters wide. This kind of footbridge is a type of suspension bridge, where the slope configured by the cables gives the deck catenary arches between supports. It is supported by 16 cables made from carbon fiber and has a 25cm concrete deck, paved with recycled tires and beams composed of 48 prefabricated keystones.

New technology

The bridge is made from innovative composite materials: glass and carbon fibers in a matrix of polymeric resin combine in a structural design using the excellent properties of these materials. Thanks to this technology, the footbridge spans 72 meters between each support and each cable supports a load of 100 metric tons.

The advantages of composite materials are in their high performance, reduced weight, construction speed, ease to work with and transport, and their inalterability and imperviousness. They don't need maintenance, nor do they rust, corrode or deteriorate with time.

Javier Ayala

Head of Linear Works & Structures

"The walkway is a very comple R&D and Innovation project in which the Engineering Department has had the opportunity to collaborate. The carbon fiber cables and aerodynamic behavior were tested in a thorough study of the vibration from pedeste trians. The structure was totally overloaded and tested, fitting it with instruments to analyze not just its present behavior but what it would be in future".

In figures - Cuenca footbridge.

• Dimensions: 216 m long, with three spans between support of 72m each, width of 3m, beam thickness of 25cm.
• Foundations: Each support has four alignments of seven inclined micropiles of 200 mm diameter. 1,547 m of micropiles are fitted in total.
• Paving: 2,500 end-of-life tires were reused to make the bridge; granulated and resin bound in situ.