New Cycle-Pedestrian Life for the Historic Route Connecting Alicante's Marinas by Tram

The Minister of Environment, Infrastructure, and Territory, Vicente Martínez Mus, attended the beginning of the installation process of the new Mascarat railway viaduct and the Line 9 of TRAM d'Alacant (Benidorm-Dénia) this week.

The works carried out by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) have a budget close to eight million euros and include the replacement of the current viaduct, built between 1913 and 1915, with a new one of similar characteristics to the original.

The new Mascarat viaduct is a straight-axis metal structure, weighing 114,000 kilograms and with a total length of 45 meters, spanning the ravine with a single isostatic span and with the same characteristics as the original deck (PRATT-type metal structure).

The Minister explained that "it is a technically complex operation, conditioned by the terrain's orography, as the Mascarat viaduct is nestled between two tunnels and spans a height of more than 40 meters."

"Once the renovation works of the Algar and Mascarat viaducts are completed by the end of this year, the diesel-electric propulsion units of the 5000 series will be able to travel between Dénia and Benidorm without the need for a transfer," highlighted Martínez Mus.

For this process, a complex system of beams, portals, and suspension cables has been installed, acting as a gantry crane, to lift and remove the existing bridge. Once removed, it will be cut into smaller pieces to be taken out through the tunnel, and the new bridge will be inserted.

The new viaduct will be transported from the workshop in 4 pieces that will be assembled on-site using bolts and welds, and will be placed in its final position supported by the aforementioned gantry crane.

Additionally, the Mascarat operation includes the replacement along the entire route (approximately 1.5 kilometers) of the current railway platform superstructure on ballast with slab track, protection, and the execution of 12,475 square meters of slope surface using reinforced triple-twist meshes, along the three tunnels crossed by the TRAM d'Alacant in this area.

In parallel, FGV is constructing the new viaduct over the Algar River, which also dates from between 1913 and 1915, with an investment exceeding seven million euros.

The project includes the construction of a parallel bridge to the existing one, so that the current Algar viaduct is maintained as a pedestrian walkway, as established by the Local Relevance Asset cataloging sheet.

The Algar operation includes the execution of a post-tensioned concrete slab viaduct whose deck has a length of 226 meters.

To favor the landscape integration of the new viaduct with respect to the old one, the piles have been arranged in the same sections as the existing ones, and an attempt has been made to match the level of the new deck as closely as possible to that of the current viaduct.

After the construction and commissioning of the new viaduct, the length of the existing viaduct will be extended with a metal structure to, using approach ramps, convert it into a cycle-pedestrian route that will connect both banks of the Algar River.

These two projects are financed by the European Union through the NextGeneration funds, which are part of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan and will serve to complete the modernization of Line 9 of the TRAM d'Alacant.