Chilina Bridge, Road bridge over the Chili River in Arequipa, Peru

The Chilina Bridge, also named Mariano Melgar Valdivieso, is a 562 m road bridge over the Chili River linking Alto Selva Alegre and Cayma. It has two parallel decks 11.3 m wide, set 2 m apart, each carrying a 10.50 m asphalt platform. It rests on four piers up to 39 m tall, with spans of 100, 157, 142, 102 and 61 m.

The bridge was first proposed in 2008, when regional governor Juan Manuel Guillén and provincial mayor Simón Balbuena signed an agreement for feasibility studies. The environmental impact declaration was approved in April 2010, and in September 2011 the contract went to a consortium of Southern Peru Copper Corporation, Interbank and Backus. Construction ran in 24-hour shifts and the bridge opened in 2014.

The bridge is named after Mariano Melgar Valdivieso, the Arequipa poet and independence martyr, and its official name is Puente Mariano Melgar Valdivieso. It crosses the Chili River between Alto Selva Alegre and Cayma, and its construction had to be adapted so that the EGASA hydroelectric plant below kept running without interruption.

The bridge experiences high traffic volume during peak hours and provides essential access to residential neighborhoods, commercial districts, markets, and serves as a key route for daily commuters.

The bridge crosses the EGASA hydroelectric plant, and construction was staged so the plant kept running without interruption. Its main span of 157 m between piers is the longest of its type in Peru, exceeding the 115 m main span of the Pilcomayo bridge between Bolivia and Argentina.