Mezcala Bridge

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The Mezcala bridge, completed in 1987, is located on the Mexico-Acapulco highway, crossing the Mezcala river close to the Western Pacific coast of México. This bridge has been in service since 1994, and is considered to be the first example of large multiple cable-stayed spans to be built.

The innovative main concept of this bridge, featuring four adjacent main spans sustained by three consecutive harps of stays (with a central main pylon of 173 m in height), was designed by French engineer Alain Chauvin, head of the French company "STRUCTURES sarl", through "STRUCTURES de México, S.A. de C.V." for the account of the Mexican "Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes". The detailed design was achieved by Modesto Armijo from "COMEC, S.A.".

The calculation of the static and dynamic effects of turbulent wind on the bridge, when in service and under construction, was carried out using the "Scanner" computer program, taking into account the aerodynamic measurements made at the Carmel West Wind Laboratory (J. Raggett) on a model of the bridge deck, with the help of Pr Scanlan. Careful studies of the behaviour of this bridge under seism where also carried out using the same computer program.