The reconstructed Mantible Bridge has been the focus of an informative event held this Thursday at the Lagares Space. The event was attended by the Mayor of Logroño, Conrado Escobar, and several key figures involved in the rehabilitation project from various areas of expertise: from the project itself, administrative aspects, execution of the works, and archaeological consultancy.
Escobar emphasized that «Mantible Bridge is one of the strategic projects of the local government, through which we aimed to enhance the monument and its surroundings«. Thus, the mayor expressed «the Corporation’s commitment to maintaining Logroño’s historical heritage in the best possible conditions, as it defines the city’s identity, reconciles us with the past, and makes us unique».
Additionally, the mayor congratulated «the technical and archaeological team, company, and municipal technicians who worked on the recovery of this infrastructure, carrying out a thorough and rigorous restoration, a task that was not easy due to the uniqueness of the work, not only to ensure the stabilization of the construction, but also to ensure the highest possible fidelity in the reconstruction of the bridge«.
Prior to questions from the media about the status of the Bridge, the municipal mayor of Logroño stated that «we will enjoy the entire process, taking advantage of the success that has been achieved», which he described as «an extraordinary task that also began at its initial stage in the previous Corporation», as he wanted to point out.
«And if what is purely material, purely heritage-related, purely architectural, and even the work of the engineers who made it possible is important, it is perhaps more important to appreciate what we have, which is an extraordinary monument, a national monument of great value, which we are commemorating today with the presentation of this book», he noted.
Therefore, he pointed out that «the rest of the issues, well, we will see them, obviously they are beyond our competencies, because it is the Diputación de Álava, and if I were a political representative of Álava and saw that the Rioja part has progressed, I would say, well, maybe we can do something, but I leave it there, I do not want to open any controversy or anything like it».
«The desirable thing for the bridge is that it fulfills its function, and certainly if the bridge were complete, it would be much better for everyone, but for now, let’s enjoy what we have done», emphasized the mayor of Logroño.
DIFFERENT PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES IN THE RECONSTRUCTION
The purpose of the informative event was to present all the particularities that surrounded the project and have been compiled in a publication that was presented this morning.
The starting point was setting the background of this element of Logroño’s heritage, as well as the studies conducted around it.
From there, the details surrounding the reconstruction of the right bank arch of the Ebro River, located in the El Cortijo neighborhood in the municipality of Logroño, were analyzed from various professional perspectives.
Finally, the archaeological work carried out in the context of the construction and the results obtained from dating samples extracted during the execution of the works were also presented.
The informative event was attended by, in addition to the mayor, Conrado Escobar, the councilor for Architecture and Historical Heritage, Íñigo López-Araquistáin; the councilor for the Municipal General Plan, Javier Martínez; and the Director General of Architecture, Urban Regeneration, and Housing of the Logroño City Council, Jesús González Menorca, in his capacity as contract manager.
Also present were civil engineer Javier Martínez Aparicio (Arenas & Associates), as co-author of the project and co-director of the work; architect Carmen Molina Barreiro as chief of works (TRYCSA); and archaeologist José Manuel Martínez Torrecilla (QARK Archeology), as advisor in the project and execution phase.
