In the post-Columbian times, the great Latin American rivers have eased the discovery of the subcontinent. In the times of cars and railways, instead, they formed important obstacles to a fluent traffic as they could be crossed by ferries only.

In the past 40 years, for the most important roads and railways the ferries have been replaced by bridges. Due to the size of the rivers, the ocean going ships sailing on them and the often extremely bad subsoils, their design and construction required uncommon techniques.

Some of the innovative technologies applied for the first time for Latin American bridges are

• deep water foundations with big diameter piles
• prestressed concrete bridges built by launching
• long span bridges with double steel composite section
• cable-stayed bridges for full railways
• protection of piers against ship impact.

Our former managing director Reiner Saul, who was involved in the design of numerous large bridges in Latin America and around the world, has written and talked on these innovative technologies on various occasions at symposia, at universities and in publications, e.g.:

Der Beitrag Südamerikas zur Entwicklung des Großbrückenbaus

The Contribution of Latin America to the Development of Longspan Bridges

Grandes Puentes Latinoamericanos y su Influencia sobre la Construcción Mundial de Puentes