This is how work to widen the A-357 bridge over Malaga's western ring road began after dark

The work to widen the Malaga-bound carriageway of the A-357 Guadalhorce motorway has just reached its most important and complex milestone: the beginning of the placement of the beams to widen the bridge over the western ring road.

The preliminary work started at 10pm on Monday, when the MA-20 was cut off in the direction of Torremolinos for safety reasons. After midnight, the most delicate operation began with the participation of two large cranes weighing 200 tonnes each and, of course, specialised personnel.

According to information from the traffic directorate (DGT), the dual carriageway was closed until after 5.30am. The work will continue with the placement of the lateral beams, already installed in the central part, on Tuesday and Wednesday night. The operation has been carried out without incidents, both on site and in terms of road traffic.

The bus-VAO (high-occupancy vehicle) lane will serve to absorb the traffic of public transport and cars with two or more occupants.

A similar operation has been carried out on all the overpasses and viaducts on the 2.3 kilometres of the A-357 between the University of Malaga and the police station. This one over the MA-20 is the most significant as it affects the western ring road. In fact, the opinion of the Ministry of Transport was key to receiving approval. The work and the drafting of the technical project were entrusted to Sando for 8.5 million euros. The action is already more than 70% complete.

The regional ministry of public work (Fomento) has planned for the bulk of the work to be carried out at night so as not to affect a crucial artery which is used by more than 74,000 vehicles a day.

This structure over the western ring road is the most important part of the dedicated bus-VAO lane platform for access to Malaga via the A-357. It consists of a three-span steel box girder, with a central span of 32 metres and two side spans of 16.25 metres each.

With the current operation, the only thing left to complete is the planned structure on Calle Almogía. In this case, new foundations have already been built with micropiles on which the new abutments and piles rest, pending the placement of four prefabricated beams attached to the edge of the structure - an operation scheduled for the end of August.

The regional government has another bus-VAO lane project in the tender phase within the framework of the improvement of the accesses to Alhaurín de la Torre. We are talking about the A-404. The project has a budget of 10 million euros. Previously, Junta also brought into service the dedicated lane on the access roads to the TechPark. In the future, this road will be linked to the one currently under construction.