Prime Minister's Office of Spain

11/12/2024 | Press release | Archived content

The EMU and the Spanish Army will install temporary bridges to replace infrastructure damaged by the DANA

One of the bridges damaged by the DANA

Share on

The work being carried out by the Spanish Armed Forces in the localities affected by the DANA is evolving to adapt to the new requirements of the situation.

The clean-up, bilge pumping and mud removal tasks are continuing, as well as the search for missing persons, but new capacities are being added to reconstruct the area. At this point, support for infrastructures that facilitate mobility and accessibility is of great importance.

For this reason, the EMU and the Spanish Army are already working on installing three bridges. As part of these efforts, in the town of Buñol, they are working together to carry out the work, while the Spanish Army will be in charge of another bridge installation in Ribarroja and the EMU will handle installing another one in the town of Cheste. The work involves a preliminary survey and study of the area and the structuring of the work protocol for installing the footbridges.

The engineers are already immersed in this new mission, which is reminiscent of others that have been carried out in other places, such as Aldea del Fresno, where, just over a year ago, the force of the water also swept away three bridges that connected the town with surrounding municipalities.

In the case of Valencia, the Spanish Army will once again assist in reconstructing this type of infrastructure by installing Mabey logistical support bridges, capable of reaching spans of up to 81 metres, with great resistance and the capacity to support large volumes of traffic, including heavy vehicles.

They are used primarily for main supply routes, replacing damaged civilian bridges and replacing temporary footbridges and general support bridges. Longer span bridges are also available, using fixed pillars or floating pontoons. They are also used as overbridges for damaged or weakened bridges and are often deployed as part of emergency responses to natural disasters.

Non official translation