Xalapa Bridge

Xalapa Bridge
Puente Xalapa
Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
453 feet high / 138 meters high
476 foot span / 145 meter span
2012

Completed in late 2012, the Xalapa Bridge is the largest structure on the 60 kilometer Xalapa Bypass highway. By cutting a new route north of the capital city of Veracruz, travelers can avoid the congested, dangerous and slow moving 2-lane road. The new route 140 breaks off from original Veracruz-Xalapa highway about 20 kilometers east of the city, crossing several small canyons before a long elevation rise to the highlands northwest of Xalapa and the small city of Perote where the route continues on to Puebla and Mexico City. The new route will offer a relief to those who live along the main Avenida Lazaro Cardenas in downtown Xalapa where trucks and other heavy vehicles were a common site on the way to Mexico City or Veracruz.

The cantilever beam bridge measures 470 meters long with span configuration of 90 + 145 x 2 + 90 meters. The tapered box beam is 6 meters wide at the base and supports a road deck 17.9 meters wide. During the planning and construction of the crossing, the bridge was referred to by various names including Puente Chiltoyac and Puente Fidelidad before they finally settled on Puente Xalapa.

Also on the Xalapa Bypass route are the double cantilever beam bridge El Cimarrón which has a single pier that drops almost 90 meters to the floor of a deep canyon as well as the 3-span Dos Ríos Bridge which is more then 55 meters high.

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Xalapa Bridge Elevation Coming Soon

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

A view looking straight down the north side of the tallest pier. A small waterfall is located just downstream of the crossing. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com