Restoration of Kourkoumeli bridge finally begins

The restoration of the Kourkoumeli bridge in Afra finally begins. The long-awaited approval of the study to begin the temporary stabilisation works has finally been given by the Directorate of Restoration of Modern Monuments and the Ionian Islands Regional Technical Works Department has already asked the contractor to set up at the site.
 
As the Deputy Regional Governor for Infrastructure and Technical Works Manolis Orphanoudakis told Enimeorsi, preparatory work will be carried out at first and then the main project.
 
"On Monday we received the official approval of the study from the Directorate of Restoration of Modern Monuments. We have already informed the contractor to start setting up at the site to begin preparatory work (clean-up) before the iron rods that will hold the bridge are put in place. The preparatory work will take from a week to 10 days and immediately after that, the actual restoration work will begin which will take about 20 to 30 days," he said.
 
 
Complaints
 
Since the bridge has been closed, all vehicles have been using the rural and municipal roads of the area. However, these roads are "suffering" and of course drivers are complaining.
 
"The road is municipal. We went to help the Central Corfu Municipality by doing a layer of paving and we are maintaining it. Every time it rains, we go with a road roller to keep the road surface smooth. The Municipality is responsible for its restoration," Mr. Orphanoudakis explained.
 
The budget of the restoration work, which concerns the temporary measures for the stabilisation of the bridge, is about €110,000.
 
Once it is completed, the bridge will be reopened to traffic, but will only be accessible to cars and not heavy vehicles.
 
 
At the Ministry of Development
 
Comprehensive action for the complete restoration of the bridge is expected with the completion of the study with final measures. For this reason, a €570,000 funding has been requested from the Ministry of Development in order to put out to tender and implement both the study with final measures and their construction.
 
For the time being, however, the Ministry has given approval only for the temporary measures for the stabilisation of the bridge, which is of key importance, as it connects the western side of central Corfu with the eastern part of the island and mainly with the hospital. It is estimated that about 15,000 vehicles of all types use it daily.
 
 
The bridge
 
During the inspections by the Technical Works Department on the whole of Corfu following the 'Ballos' storm, damage was found in this bridge. In February 2022, the Regional Authority submitted the study of temporary measures to support the bridge's structure for approval to the Directorate of Restoration of Modern Monuments.
 
However, while waiting for the approval, and since a year had passed without any response, the Ionian Islands Regional Council unanimously decided to temporarily close the bridge for safety reasons.
 
Although the geotechnical study did not reveal foundation problems, it was not possible to fully predict the behaviour of the bridge structure due to wear caused by unforeseeable situations (such as extreme weather conditions). This decision was also influenced by the fact that even though the Regional Technical Works Department lowered the weight capacity of the bridge from 15 to 3 tons in order to reduce the danger, heavy vehicles such as tri-axle trucks, buses and school buses continued to use it. Eventually, the bridge was closed around mid-February 2023.
 
"The approval came in May 2023 - 15 months after the submission of the study to the Directorate of Restoration of Modern Monuments. The delay was not our fault", commented the Deputy Regional Governor for Infrastructure.