After eight months of disruption, the Raos bridge, which connects the Fishing District with the Fish Market area and provides access to the Maliaño basin of the port of Santander, has been repaired and returned to normal, thus reestablishing vessel access.
The work carried out, valued at 1.3 million euros, has not only focused on repairing the detected pathologies but also on technical assistance from engineering firms, structural calculators, quality controls, installation of sensors, and monitoring of the movable bridge mechanisms.
Once this repair and the bridge’s commissioning are completed, it is planned to address the remediation of the problems identified in the other movable leaf, the one on the Maliaño side, without affecting access to the basin.
The bridge breakdown prevented fishing boats from accessing the fish market directly, and the Santander Port Authority set up a provisional berth at the North Margin Wharf so they could continue operating. The prolonged nature of the work put the sector “on a war footing,” which even led to the Fishermen’s Guild suspending the traditional maritime procession of the Virgin of Carmen last July 16th.
Now, César Díaz, the port president, has announced the reopening of the bridge after “having completed the repair of the bascule leaf on the Raos side.” Díaz thanked the users of the basin for “their patience” in the face of a completely unforeseen and unexpected breakdown that, at all times, “has been a priority” for the Port Authority and to which “substantial technical, human, and economic resources” had to be dedicated to restore normality “in the shortest time possible” and with the aim of “minimizing the impact on the fishing sector’s activity.”
