English 
Spanish 
3 min read
1 comments
Find out why France is investing in a highway around an island. 12 km long, this highway involves a billion-dollar investment and promises to transform the region.
In 2013, a small island on the African continent announced the construction of a highway to connect its two main cities. The announcement of this work could go completely unnoticed, mainly because it is a highway of just 12 and a half km, but there was a particularity about this project that caught the attention of many people. The initial budget was 1,6 billion dollars. Understand why France is building a highway around an island.
Understand why France is building a highway around an island
The island was formed on two volcanoes, one of them called Bico das Neves in free translation, which became extinct around 12 thousand years ago and two thirds of the Island's territory is located on it. The other volcano Pico da Fornalha is considered one of the most active volcanoes in the world, erupting constantly.
All this volcanic activity created a distinct landscape, with many mountains, valleys and, as you can imagine, this created immense difficulties in moving between different parts of the Island.
- Bill Gates: Microsoft founder made the 'biggest mistake of all time' and it cost him $400 BILLION
- Is a chainsaw without ENERGY and WITHOUT GASOLINE possible? See how this Brazilian managed to build one
- Bible Sanctuary OPENS for the first time in 3.000 years
- The most charming train ride in Brazil! Discover the ride you need to take at least once in your life
In relation to traffic, we also add the fact that this territory has a high number of vehicles per inhabitants, with almost one car for every two residents. So many cars on hilly terrain and few roads made traffic chaos with huge congestion.
The connection between the island's main cities is made by a road built at the foot of a cliff, where pieces of rocks constantly break off and hit the track. Since 1980, 20 deaths have been recorded due to falling rocks on the highway. This explains why France is building a highway around an island.
Work on the highway around the island began in 2014
The idea that solved all the problems at once was the construction of a highway over the sea, between 50 and 200 meters away from the cliff and high enough for the road to be out of reach of the waves. This highway around the island would only have one small problem: The Cost. At the time the works were announced, the Cost per kilometer of highway built was estimated at 133 million dollars and total construction should reach 1,6 billion dollars.
In fact, work on the highway around the island began in 2014 and according to the project, around 6,5 km of the highway would be built on two stretches of embankment that extend over the sea and the other part would be built using viaducts, one with 5,5 km long and another small viaduct that should connect the two stretches of embankment.
A The initial forecast was that the highway around the island would be opened in 2020. In addition to the high costs, a project of this size in this environment presents technical and construction challenges. Winds in the region reach an impressive 140 km per hour and waves reach up to 10 m high.
The construction of the highway around the island
To make execution possible, it was necessary to set up manufacturing centers for the precast concrete structures at points far from the installation site and transport them to their final destination. To achieve this, a huge number of large cranes and cranes were needed, as well as transport ferries.
After the start of the works, the government and those responsible discovered that the problems to be faced went beyond the high budget and technical difficulties, but the works of the viaduct progressed and continued in accordance with the planned schedule.
Is this island in Africa??