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High suspense: Mexico lands bridge record

January 7, 2012

Fuente de Información  www.theage.com.au

The Baluarte Bridge is officially the highest suspension bridge in the world. Photo: Reuters

MEXICO'S President Felipe Calderon has received a Guinness record certifying a suspension bridge in western Mexico as the world's highest.

The honour was bestowed on the Baluarte Bicentennial Bridge, which is supported by 152 steel suspenders, has a central, cable-stayed span of 520 metres, a total length of 1124 metres and a width of 19.8 metres.

Built at a world-record structural height of 403.4 metres, its four lanes extend over a jagged stretch of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range, which links Durango and the neighbouring coastal state of Sinaloa.

The bridge is part of the Durango-Mazatlan highway, built at a cost of more than 20 billion pesos ($A1.42 billion) and the most significant road project during Mr Calderon's six-year term, which began in December 2006, the transportation ministry said in a statement.

The Baluarte Bicentennial Bridge will have a price tag of 2.18 billion pesos.

The span is nearly 86 per cent complete and is scheduled to be finished by the end of January.

Mr Calderon supervised construction work on the bridge on Thursday along with the governors of Sinaloa and Durango and said that it would provide an economic boost to both states.

"With developments in infrastructure, we'll continue to achieve the targets established during my term,'' the President said.