Bridge between Brazil and Paraguay to be finished in November
The second bridge between Brazil and Paraguay called Integration Bridge should be finished by November of this year. On Wednesday (Aug. 31), the presidents of both countries Jair Bolsonaro and Mário Abdo Benítez visited the construction site in Foz do Iguaçu, in the Brazilian state of Paraná. Benítez walked across the new bridge to the Brazilian side.
The construction began in 2019, in a partnership between Itaipu Binational, led by Brazil and Paraguay, and the Paraná state government. The entire investment of BRL 463 million is being funded by the energy company, and it includes work on the structure, expropriations, and the construction of a perimeter road on the Brazilian side, which will connect the bridge to the BR-277 highway in Foz do Iguaçu. The work is being carried out by Paraná Highway Department (DER-PR).
On the Paraguayan side, the bridge will reach the city of Presidente Franco. It will be 760 meters long and have a free span of 470 meters, the largest one in Latin America. There will be two single 3.6-meter-wide lanes, a three-meter-wide shoulder, and a 1.7-meter-wide sidewalk.
Brazil and Paraguay are already connected by the Friendship Bridge, between Foz do Iguaçu and Ciudad del Este, inaugurated in 1965. It is still the main logistical corridor between both countries, but it has been overloaded for years. Besides the circulation of people, the bridge concentrates the traffic of trucks. With the new connection, the Friendship Bridge will be exclusively for light vehicles and tourism buses, while the Integration Bridge will receive cargo transport, and will be managed by the government of Paraná.
A third bridge is also under construction, connecting the two countries, between Carmelo Peralta, in Paraguay, and Porto Murtinho, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. This construction is also partly financed by Itaipu Binacional and should facilitate Brazil's access to Pacific Ocean markets.
