FCC Construcción’s experience in the design and construction of bridges and viaducts in Chile is one of the most technically significant aspects of its track record in the country. Owing to the extremely high seismic activity in Chile, the company has had to apply the strictest standards of seismic engineering and structural resilience, becoming a benchmark in the construction of large bridge structures.

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Concepción Industrial Bridge (Biobío River)

Although it is a transport structure, it effectively operates as a 6.4-kilometre closed-toll motorway. The road section includes elevated links, embankments and road infrastructure meeting high seismic standards, specifically designed to divert heavy goods vehicle traffic away from urban centres and connect it directly to the ports of the Biobío Region.

Cuesta de las Chilcas Viaduct (Route 5 North)

This is a 411-metre-long curved viaduct designed to straighten the road alignment in one of the areas with the highest accident rate on Route 5. The major technical challenge lay in founding the enormous bridge piers on slopes with gradients of almost 45 per cent. This required the manual and mechanical excavation of deep foundation pits and the prior stabilisation of the hillside using active anchors and shotcrete. The viaduct was built parallel to the existing carriageway, which demanded precise planning to hoist the girders without interrupting the constant flow of lorries and buses connecting the north with the centre of the country.

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