The viaduct over the Barranco de la Bota, one of the key parts of the new access to Puerto de Querol on the N-232 highway as it passes through Morella, Castellón, has been awarded a runner-up prize in the category for the greatest innovation in the field of structure of the V ACHE Awards, awarded by the Spanish Association of Structural Engineering.
The ACHE awards distinguish those works which, due to their quality, importance and innovation, contribute to the progress of structural engineering, and highlight the innovative and sustainable nature of an infrastructure that marked a turning point in the improvement of connectivity between the Valencian Community and Aragon.
Completed in 2022, the renovation works for the Port of Querol responded to the need to eliminate one of the most conflicting sections of the state road network. With a length of 12 kilometres, the new route replaced a road which had very sharp bends, steep inclines and frequent winter road problems, with a safer and more functional road, including an additional lane for slow vehicles, nine viaducts and a 198 metre tunnel.
The main structure of the project, the viaduct over the Barranco de la Bota, has been especially valued for its unique structural solution: a curved-plan lower steel arch. This typology breaks with the traditional flat geometry of arches and takes advantage of the properties of steel, which behaves effectively both in compression and in traction. The result is a structure with optimised spatial behaviour, which expands the design possibilities in this type of solution.
In addition to structural innovation, the project has been a benchmark in terms of sustainability and environmental respect. The route crosses an area of high ecological value protected by the Natura 2000 Network, so numerous measures were adopted for landscape integration and protection of the environment: wildlife crossings, ecological walls with revegetation, acoustic screens, chromatic treatments on slopes, and a responsible use of resources and auxiliary resources. In addition, the old route of the road has been preserved as a service road for local access and agricultural or forestry uses, avoiding the consumption of new land.
The award of this second prize is a recognition of the joint work of all the entities that made this infrastructure possible: developers, designers, construction companies, facultative management and technical teams who advocated for engineering committed to safety, innovation and the environment.
TYPSA, together with MC2 and INTEMAC, together played a very prominent role in the project, their participation basically consisted of the preparation of modified and complementary designs, technical support and advice to construction management, stability analysis against the arc wind during construction and in operation. Additionally, the team took the lead in inspecting the welds of the steel arch, supervised both in the workshop and on site.
