Maracaibo, Venezuela - Rafael Urdaneta Bridge - postcard c.1970s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Puente Gral. Rafael Urdaneta [Raphael Urdaneta Bridge], Maracaibo, Venezuela
• Publisher: Santiagi CA, Caracas
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Maracaibo (/ˌmærəˈkaɪboʊ/; Spanish pronunciation: [maɾaˈkaiβo]) is a city and the municipal seat of Maracaibo Municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the second-largest city in the country (after the national capital Caracas) and the capital of the state of Zulia. The population of the city is approximately 1,495,200^[1] with the metropolitan area estimated at 2,108,404 as of 2010.^[2] Maracaibo is nicknamed La Tierra del Sol Amada ("The Beloved Land of the Sun").

The dictatorial regime of General Marcos Pérez Jiménez in the 1950s set as a goal the construction of a bridge connecting the two lake shores. Various bridge projects for the spanning of the Lake Maracaibo narrows near the city were in the works. The general's government had decided that this "city of independent thought" should be more "connected" to the rest of the country.

Proposals for a bridge design that included rail transport and tourist facilities were seriously considered. The fall of the Pérez Jiménez government on 23 January 1958, quickly led to a less elaborate design project that was approved and funded by a democratic and more conservative government.

The building of "El Puente Sobre El Lago de Maracaibo "General Rafael Urdaneta"—(General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge over Lake Maracaibo) named after the distinguished General hero of the War of Independence was opened to public traffic in 1962. The project was completed on schedule in 40 months.

This bridge construction project was a remarkable feat. Built under very difficult conditions, when completed, it became the longest prestressed concrete bridge in the world. The structure is in constant use and remains today as the most important link between Maracaibo, along with much of the state of Zulia, and the rest of Venezuela.