ROAD ACCESSES TO THE CITY OF BILBAO THROUGH SAN MAMÉS

Area of activity
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURES

Service
Roads and highways

Client
INTERBIAK Bizkaia – Bizkaia Infrastructure Agency

Scope

• Layout project
• Detailed design project
• Technical assistance to site supervision
• Health and safety coordination

Duration
2006-2013

The construction of the new accesses to Bilbao through San Mamés took four and a half years of works and an investment of 215 M€. The infrastructure consists of four false tunnels of 110 to 340 meters in length (Santa Ana, Santiago, San Nicolás and Bentazarra); four viaducts of between 57 and 323 meters, and a tunnel excavated under Altamira, with a length of 351 meters.

The remodeling of the accesses to Bilbao was a great technical and human challenge, with the added difficulty of maintaining traffic on the A-8 trunk road during the works. The undergrounding of this infrastructure as it passes through the Lezeaga neighbourhood to allow the junction with Bentazarra and Altamira, has facilitated the release of tens of thousands of square meters for new urban uses. The same is happening in Sabino Arana Avenue after the disappearance of the viaducts.

The new accesses to Bilbao through San Mames have become, since their opening, the gateway to and from the capital of Biscay most used by drivers and have promoted the redistribution of automobile traffic through all the accesses to the capital of Biscay.

These new accesses directly connect the A-8 freeway with the urban area of the city of Bilbao. The works in which we participated, of great technical and constructive complexity, included the design of viaducts, false tunnels and numerous important structures. These works were executed while maintaining at all times the important existing road traffic. In addition, the Special Road Plan and the Joint Environmental Impact Assessment Study were drafted.