Paiporta, one of the municipalities most affected by the DANA of October 29, 2024, began this Friday the works to replace the Pont Vell, which was severely damaged after the flood, with the aim of building a new, safer, and more resistant bridge, with 45% more hydraulic capacity. It is a key action for the reconstruction of the municipality after the DANA and to improve safety and the connection between the two banks of the ravine, highlighted the mayor, Vicent Ciscar, who pointed out that it is “a day of mixed emotions” for the town.
For more than a century, Paiporta has had in this bridge “a fundamental element of its daily life and collective memory” and “saying goodbye is not easy,” said Ciscar, who pointed out that the DANA taught them, “in the hardest possible way, that it is no longer enough to rebuild what was there.”
“We have the responsibility to build better, with more safety and thinking about future generations,” he stated, and explained that the replacement of the bridge responds to technical and safety criteria.
The studies carried out after the DANA determined that the Pont Vell, built more than a century ago, shows significant structural deterioration and has exhausted its useful life, so a comprehensive rehabilitation would not allow the infrastructure to be recovered with the necessary safety guarantees.
Therefore, the construction of a new bridge has been chosen, which will have a “more efficient and resistant design and will have 45% more hydraulic capacity, thanks, among other measures, to fewer supports and better orientation with respect to the water flow.”
Its truncated cone-shaped piers will facilitate the passage of water and the structure will be prepared to better respond to episodes of large floods, the City Council indicated in a statement.
The new Pont Vell will also be 8.5 meters wide, one meter more than the current one and, according to the mayor, the project “also incorporates heritage criteria to preserve historical elements and maintain the identity of a bridge so linked to Paiporta.”
“This demolition does not mean we lose our history. It means we transform a wound into an opportunity to make Paiporta safer, more resilient, and better prepared,” he affirmed.
Before the start of the works, the connection between both banks has been guaranteed through already recovered infrastructures, such as the Pont Nou, the Station Bridge, and the walkway on carrer Convent.
“Today we say goodbye to a historic bridge, but we take the first step to build another that will protect the life of our town for many decades,” Ciscar concluded.
