Trucking Around the World
TRUCKINGAROUNDTHEWORLD
This is the eighth in a series of articles about trucking in other parts of the world. This month, we travel to Spain where amidst a mountain wilderness a new highway system rises, featuring their highest viaduct.
F
OR YEARS, motorists and truck drivers have had to endure the slow and tortuous climb from Molledo on the Cantabrian northern lowlands, up the N-611, climbing through the Cantabrian mountains to Palencia, on the Meseta – Spain’s high central plateau. It is a dangerous road liable to traffic hold-ups, delays and accidents, and frequently impassable in the depths of winter. Now the N-611 is all but deserted, used mostly by local traffic. In its place is the new Molledo-Pesquero section of the Autovia de la Meseta, a welcome addition to Spain’s highway system. When completed, the A-67 – the Autovia de la Meseta – will provide a high-speed link between Spain’s capital Madrid, located at the geographical
center of the country, and Santander, the capital of Cantabria, on Spain’s northern coast. The highway is being designed and constructed by Ferrovial Agroman, a leading infrastructure company in Spain, and the first section, linking Molledo at 250 meters and Pesquero at 750 meters, was officially opened in January 2008. IT IS A TRIUMPH of engineering and construction in a rugged and beautiful mountainous terrain, built to cope with high traffic volumes, extreme wind and temperatures, and sensitive environmental concerns, such as noise, visual impact and disturbance to the natural surroundings. Two particular challenges for Ferrovial
39
August ‘10
www.hiringtruckdrivers.com