This bridge, located on a farm in Los Cerrillos, Canelones, was inaugurated on December 19, 2016, at the Las Brujas campus of the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA). During the event, Dr. Moya delivered a lecture titled “Design Principles for the Bridge: Needs and Opportunities.”
“The project arose from the need to develop crossings over natural obstacles (streams, ditches, canals) that would allow heavy machinery and vehicles to pass during farming and harvesting operations in the agricultural and forestry sectors,” said Dr. Moya.
“Wood was used because this resource is readily available in Uruguay from planted forests, mainly pine and eucalyptus, and has the potential for structural applications.”
The bridge is part of the Agricultural Technology Promotion Fund (FPTA) 2012-306 research project “Design of bridges made from locally sourced wood for the passage of heavy vehicles in the agricultural and forestry sectors.”
The project was submitted in 2012 by Dr. Vanesa Baño, a professor at the Institute of Structures and Transportation in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of the Republic (Udelar). Implementation began in mid-2014 and was completed in early December 2016. The bridge construction, which took 10 days, was carried out during the first two weeks of December.
Participants in the project included faculty and students from the Udelar School of Engineering, the engineering firms RDA Ingenieros and CyD Ingenieros, Agricultural Engineer Santiago Díaz, and the company Forestal Caja Bancaria.