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 Athens: a new look for an old favourite | On the road The Rion-Antirion Bridge in Greece By G. Rouzeau Spanning the Corinth Strait and connecting the Pelopponese to mainland Greece, the new Rion-Antirion Bridge is the world's longest cable-stayed bridge. Scheduled to open on 8 August, the inauguration of this imposing feat of engineering will be celebrated as the Olympic flame is carried across the bridge.
Built by the concession company Gefyra, a subsidiary of the Vinci Group, the bridge across the Corinth Strait, connecting the Pelopponese to mainland Greece will officially be named after Harilaos-Trikoupis, the Greek Prime Minister who, as early as 1880, suggested such a project to parliament. But local Greeks have already given it another name, 'Poseidon's Bridge'; reminiscent of the earthquake-like fits of rage the sea god can throw. The tectonic plate in the Corinth Strait is still moving, within a seismic zone considered to be Greece's most active. Designed like an immense swing, according to Gilles de Maublanc, the project director, this 9,369 foot long bridge must be able to withstand winds of 156 mile/h and the stress equivalent of an 180,000 tonne oil tanker crashing into it. Only an earthquake measuring over 7 on the Richter scale could make it collapse. The Rion-Antirion Bridge will also be the world's longest cable bridge, ahead of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and yet it will only take five minutes to cross by car (compared with the 45 minute ferry crossing) for the price of 7.70 euro.
Funded by a 771 million euro budget over six years, the Rion-Antirion Bridge required 250,000 cubic metres of concrete, a metallic frame weighing some 172,000 tonnes and four concrete pylons 738 feet high supporting 368 stay cables. Just twenty years ago, this bridge could not have been built but nowadays, computer calculations allow for precise measurements of how building materials will behave, especially materials used in an area with an active tectonic fault. The economic consequences will of course benefit Greece: 11,000 vehicles are expected to cross the bridge each day (against 9,000 today by ferry). Most of the ferry companies have already made plans to operate elsewhere by applying for licenses to run ferry lines to Corfu or Salamis. The new bridge should also open up the region around Rion, a small town with 1,000 inhabitants, by considerably shortening the time it takes to reach Delphi from the Pelopponese. This tourism advantage will also be matched by easier trade links with northern Greece.
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