In circulation the new bridge at Aligarorema in the Municipality of Volos in the P.E. of Magnesia.
The bridge is one of the largest road infrastructure projects recovering from the damage caused during the severe weather events “Daniel” and “Elias” in September 2023.
The inauguration of the bridge took place, presence of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Dimas and the Secretary General of Infrastructure Dimitris Anagnopoulos, while also present were the Members of Parliament of Magnesia Christos Triandopoulos and Christos Boukoros, the Mayor of Volos Achilleas Beos and the Vice-Regional Governor of Magnesia and Sporades Anna Maria Papadimitriou.
The construction of the new bridge is part of a contract for the urgent works to repair damages of road infrastructure, as a result of the severe weather phenomena “Daniel” and “Elias” in 293 points of failure in the municipalities: Zagora – Mouresi, South Pelion, Volos and Riga Feraio.
At the inauguration ceremony, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Dimas said: “Today we are opening the bridge at Aligarorema to traffic. We are closing a wound we had from “Daniel”.
The project was implemented on the schedule we had said and less than a year has passed since we signed the contracts for the road works to repair the damage caused by the natural disasters in the Region of Thessaly.
I want to underline that the state is investing 1.3 billion euros to heal the wounds of “Daniel”. We are using €600 million from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, with the rest coming from the Public Investment Programme. These are interventions in 1,007 locations across Thessaly and Sterea Greece, and the bridge at Aligarorema is one of the most important.
Our aim with the intervention measures is not only to restore road traffic in the area, but also to shield the infrastructure in case of a similar severe event. We are delivering to the Local Government, to the Municipality of Volos, to the local community, but also to all Greek citizens a new bridge, a modern infrastructure better than the one that existed when the disaster occurred.”
Secretary General of Infrastructure Dimitris Anagnopoulos said: “The restoration of the damage to the road infrastructure of Thessaly and Central Greece is a complex project that spans a large road network. This contract alone includes 293 points where work needs to be done.
Today we are at the bridge in Aligarorema to hand it over for use, a lot of hard work has been done and a modern bridge with important technical features has been implemented! It is founded on piles at 19 m, supported on two abutments bridged with prefabricated prestressed girders of 40 m span. Also, works were constructed to settle the bed and protect the bridge. We thank the services of the Ministry, but also the Mayor of Volos for the close cooperation, especially for the transfer of utility networks.We continue to work intensively for the smooth restoration of the remaining sites to be carried out in all municipalities.”
The project is co-funded by the Recovery and Resilience Fund and the Sectoral Development Programme of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport 2021 – 2025.
It is noted that to address the hydraulic failures at this location and to protect the new bridge, works are being constructed to settle the bed of the stream “Aligarorema” for a total length of 588m.
