Oldest harbor-crossing bridge sidewalks closed for six months

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The sidewalks on the Nobre de Carvalho will be closed to pedestrians from today for approximately six months to facilitate major maintenance works, the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) has announced.

Appropriate signage will be placed at the two ends of the bridge. Motor traffic will remain open to public transport and authorized vehicles.

The suspension period is scheduled to conclude on April 10, 2024.

No budget allocation has been disclosed in respect of the maintenance work.

Major maintenance work on the bridge has been conducted roughly once every 10 years, with the last such undertaking taking place in 2013.

The bridge was opened in 1974.

The need for maintenance was highlighted in the annual report by the Civil Engineering Laboratory of Macau (LECM), which revealed the presence of cracks and detached concrete at several locations on the bridge, including piers and main beams. The report found that the deterioration was caused primarily by corrosion from sea water and humid breezes.

The bridge has previously undergone major maintenance in 1986, 1995, 2003 and 2013. The bridge spans approximately 2.5 kilometers and serves as a route for many runners, as it is one of the few longest straight passages accessible to pedestrians.

Named after the 121st Governor of Portuguese-Macau, the bridge was built by the company held by Ho Yin, late father of Edmund Ho, the first Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region.

Nobre de Carvalho held office during the bridge’s groundbreaking opening. 

Before 2007, the bridge was open to all motor traffic. However, due to pressures caused by increasing motor traffic, the government at the time restricted access to public or authorized transport only to protect the bridge structure. 

The last time that the bridge was fully accessible to public traffic was in the two-week period following the impact of severe Typhoon Hato in Macau, in 2017.

Among the non-Chinese and non-Portuguese communities, the bridge is colloquially referred to as the center bridge, the middle bridge or “Yat Kiu,” which means “the first bridge” in Cantonese.