Cancún’s Nichupté Bridge Gets Reinforcement Before Opening

Cancún, Mexico — The Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) announced that it will carry out reinforcement work on the structure of the Nichupté Bridge, as well as dynamic and static resistance tests prior to its entry into operation.

This comes after a video circulated on social media showing cracking in the concrete at the joints of the modular parts that make up the bridge in the lagoon area.

Guido Mendiburu Solís, SICT delegate in Quintana Roo, assured that the bridge structure does not pose any risk to users, but to reinforce the work, four additional pilings and a metal beam will be constructed in at least three support points of the entire concrete structure.

He acknowledged that having been built on a lagoon bed with high karsticity, some parts of the structure have shown movement that will be counteracted with these reinforcement works prior to the bridge’s entry into operation.

“It is not a structural damage, but before it is inaugurated we will carry out load tests, both with moving vehicles and static ones, to verify that the work meets the objective for which it was designed,” he explained.

The delegate confirmed that once the work is completed, the construction of an underpass or distributor at kilometer 12 of Cancún’s hotel zone is already scheduled to begin this same year, to make the merging of vehicles traveling on the bridge onto Kukulcán Boulevard more fluid.

With less than 15 days until the new inauguration date, the official reported that the work is 93% complete, with finishing touches being completed in the lagoon area, where the connection with Kukulcán Boulevard is already finished.

They have already managed to install lighting on the first kilometers of the entire structure, in addition to finishing painting details along the 11 kilometers that make up the work.

According to SICT data, the project has generated approximately 51,000 direct and indirect jobs and will allow a savings of 45 minutes in travel time. It will benefit 1.3 million residents and more than 20 million tourists each year, using innovative construction systems that minimize environmental impact and protect the mangrove.