The Triplets bridges, Stone bridge complex in northern La Paz, Bolivia.
The Triplets bridges are three consecutive extradosed bridges on La Paz's north beltway: Independencia (originally Orkojahuira, 218.8 m), Unión (Choqueyapu, 191.5 m) and Libertad (Kantutani, 233.5 m). Each has a three-span deck 14.8 m wide carrying four vehicle lanes, two 1.4 m sidewalks and a 1 m central median where a single plane of stays anchors to a 15 m pylon above the pier axis.
The bridges were built from July 2007 to mid-2010, when they opened on 28 November 2010, timed to mark the Bicentennial of Independence. The CAF financed the project through a 2006 credit of US$14 million, and the city awarded design and construction to the Consorcio Asociación Accidental Progreso. Spanish engineering firm PEDELTA, led by Juan Sobrino, replaced the planned cable-stayed design with extradosed bridges to lower the pylons and open the view over La Paz.
The bridges are named Libertad, Unión and Independencia; the Spanish sources also record their original names Kantutani, Choqueyapu and Orkojahuira, after the ravines and rivers they cross. The opening on 28 November 2010 drew requests from several public transport lines to run across the new route.
The three bridges form a continuous route: Independencia links Cuarto Centenario to Miraflores, Unión continues to San Jorge, and Libertad descends to Sopocachi. Each deck has two 1.4-metre sidewalks beside four vehicle lanes. The central stay anchors are protected by concrete barriers, so pedestrians cross on the sides.
In June 2012 the project won the Eugene C. Figg, Jr. Medal for Signature Bridges at the International Bridge Conference in Pittsburgh, a city that also has three similar bridges, the Three Sisters. The medal is awarded for signature bridges.
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