Atlantic Bridge, Panama


The third bridge over the Panama Canal, known as the Atlantic Bridge, is a road bridge in Colón, Panama, which spans the Atlantic entrance to the Canal. It is the third bridge over the Panama Canal after the Bridge of the Americas and the Centennial Bridge, both on the Pacific side of the canal.
The bridge is a double-pylon, double-plane, concrete girder, cable-stayed bridge with a main span of and two side spans of. The east and west approaches are and long, respectively. The bridge was designed by the China Communication Construction Company consisting of HPDI and Louis Berger Group and built by Vinci Construction.

Route

The bridge is part of a local connection road between Bolivar Highway in the east and the undeveloped western area. It will replace the nearby Panama Canal Ferry. It is the only bridge north of the Culebra Cut.

Construction

Three consortiums were approved to bid for the bridge construction: Acciona Infraestructuras -Tradeco, Odebrecht–Hyundai Joint Venture, and Vinci Construction Grands Projets. Tenders were received in August 2012.
In October 2012, the Panama Canal Authority awarded a contract to the French company Vinci Construction to build a third bridge, near the Atlantic side, for an offer price of. At that time the bridge had no name, but Third bridge and Atlantic side bridge were used, as well as Atlantic Bridge.
Construction of the bridge and access viaducts, which commenced in January 2013, was planned to take three and a half years and was expected to be completed in 2016. The main span of the bridge was keyed on 6 September 2018. The bridge was unveiled by Panama President Laurentino Cortizo and Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano on Friday 2 August 2019.