Raúl Uranga-Carlos Sylvestre Begnis subfluvial tunnel
The Raúl Uranga – Carlos Sylvestre Begnis Subfluvial Tunnel, also known as the Uranga-Begnis Tunnel, Paraná-Santa Fe Tunnel or until 2001 as Hernando Arias Saavedra Subfluvial Tunnel, is an underground-subfluvial corridor built in Argentina under the bed of the Paraná River, between the provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Ríos. It was designed to connect the capitals of both provinces (Santa Fe de la Veracruz and the city of Paraná), located opposite each other on the banks of the aforementioned river. This tunnel, in addition to fulfilling the function of connecting to the road traffic networks of both provinces, constituted the first effective communication link between Argentine Mesopotamia and the rest of the country, since its construction began in 1962. and were effectively inaugurated in 1969. The construction of this viaduct was the responsibility of the German company Hochtief AG, while the plans were the work of the Argentine company SAILAV S.A.
Although the natural solution would have been the choice of a bridge, the provincial governments could only choose this atypical format due to the lack of collaboration of the national State, which has jurisdiction over the water bodies. In 1960 they signed an interprovincial treaty projecting the shared task, and in June of the following year the works began. It was inaugurated on December 13, 1969, and baptized with the name of Hernandarias de Saavedra, the first Creole governor of the Río de la Plata, from the colonial era.
The tunnel structure has a length of 2,397 m, to which are added the access ramps and convergence roads to give a total of about 3,497 m. It is built on the basis of 64 × 10.8 m cylindrical segments, coupled and buried in the silty bottom of the river. At its deepest point, the tunnel roof is about 32 meters below the surface of the river. The air flow is regulated by a forced ventilation system; lighting automatically adjusts to outdoor conditions.
Although the tunnel currently only has vehicular roads, the infrastructure to integrate it with the railway line is in place.
In 2001, after eleven years of efforts, its current name was established, "Raúl Uranga - Carlos Sylvestre Begnis", as a tribute to the governors of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe, respectively, who made possible the completion of the work.
The road connection between Paraná and Santa Fe through the subfluvial tunnel has a flow of approximately 10,000 vehicles per day. The traffic that passes through the viaduct is 70% of regional origin.
Main features
The piped section is 2,397 meters long, of which two access ramps of 271 meters each were added (total length 3,479 meters). The greatest depth is 29.51 meters ―equivalent to 32 meters when compared to the average level of the river―. The maximum slope at the entrances to the tunnel is 3.5%. 36 tubes were used and one extra one of shorter length, built in a dry dock located downstream of the tunnel axis, on the left bank (that is, on the banks of the city of Paraná).
Each tube is cylindrical in shape, and approximately 64 meters long, and 10.8 meters in diameter and 14 meters deep and a sill 30-50 cm thick.
In the construction, materials from the area were used such as cement, pebbles, high-resistance iron, common iron and sand. They were waterproofed on the outside with 3 coats of polyester resin reinforced with glass wool. Each tube has a length of 65.45 meters, a weight of 4,500 tons, the outer diameter is 10.80 meters and the inner diameter is 9.80 meters. The wall has a thickness of 0.50 meters. The footbridge or side path has a width of 0.95 × 1.20 meters, elevated with respect to the road. The road has a width of 7.50 meters, and a thickness of 0.43 meters (two hands of traffic). The free height from the road to the ceiling is 4.41 meters.
The tunnel has prevention and surveillance areas. It has lighting from 5,000 fluorescent tubes inside the tunnel and access ramps, they have automatic start generator sets that provide a reduced service during the interruption. Closed circuit television that allows to observe the movement of vehicles inside the tunnel. Inside there are 14 television cameras located every 200 meters, which in the Command Room are reflected on 14 screens.
Visibility: the measurement is made in three places, at a distance of 600, 1,300 and 1,900 meters from the tunnel entrance, on the side of the city of Paraná.
To control carbon monoxide, two gas analyzers have been installed. Each of them takes tests in 6 different shots, located every 200 meters, and 70 cm above the road.
Pure air renewal: it takes 3 to 4 minutes, and a maximum flow rate of 400 m³ per second has been set, using four special fans, 2 for fresh air injection and 2 for stale air extraction, installed in two towers.
It has telephones, fire detection and extinguishing equipment located inside the tunnel.
Speed control: It is carried out by the command room operator by means of a stopwatch through the televisions.
History
Before the work was carried out, a raft crossed from Paraná to Santa Fe.
Why a subfluvial tunnel and not a bridge?
As the airspace ―together with the mirror of the rivers― belongs to the Argentine national State, both provinces had presented several bridge projects that were invalidated by the national State. Then the governors resolved a legal instrument provided for in the Constitution of the Argentine Nation, which is the celebration of treaties intended to solve common problems, which they used to build a subfluvial tunnel, since the area located by below the river bed does not belong to the national jurisdiction.
Presentation of the projects for the connection (1911-1941)
The presentation of projects to connect the two provinces followed one another unsuccessfully from 1911 until August 1941, the date on which the Argentine National Executive Power created a commission in charge of projecting a tunnel. We had to wait more than a decade and it was not until 1952 that the work was delegated to the engineers Ernesto Algelt and Carlos Laucher; who then settled in Paraná for a period of ten days to draw up a preliminary sketch of the tunnel.
Project engineers (1952-1955)
In 1954, the government of Entre Ríos entrusted them with a feasibility study and asked them to write the preliminary project; which was approved by the Executive Branch of Entre Ríos in May 1955.
Year 1956: work of national interest
In 1956, during one of the military dictatorships in Argentina, General Manuel Calderón ―controller of the province of Entre Ríos―, through Decree No. 7122, declared the work of national interest.
Year 1957: tender
In 1957, after different companies from the United States, Europe and Argentina SAILAV presented themselves in order to carry out the projected tunnel, the Executive Power established that this work would be carried out through the public concession system; Therefore, the Ministry of Public Works of the Argentine Nation called for tenders for the studies, construction, financing and exploitation of this underwater nexus.
Year 1960: interprovincial treaty
The different changes of government that Argentina suffered were delaying the project.
On June 15, 1960, Governors Raúl Uranga of Entre Ríos and Carlos Begnis of Santa Fe signed the historic interprovincial treaty for the construction of a subfluvial highway tunnel.
The costs of the work would be divided equally between the two provinces; On June 29, 1961, an international public tender was held, and the preparation of the project was awarded to a consortium made up of three companies:
- SAILAV SA, an Argentine company that conceived the project.
- HOCHTIEF AG, company of Essen (Germany) that carried out the project.
- VIANINI SPA (from Rome, Italy), which carried out the dredging of Paraná in the site area of the work).
Year 1962: start of work
In March 1962, after President Arturo Frondizi laid the foundation stone on the Santa Fe coast, work began on the subfluvial tunnel that originally bore the name "Hernandarias", in memory of Don Hernando Arias de Saavedra, the first Creole to govern this part of the continent.
In 1963, the federal government declared these works a national priority, a support that continued to be maintained even in 1965, despite the great economic and financial difficulties of the time, since governors Aldo Tessio and Carlos Raúl Contín continued to provide support to the execution of the work.
The construction
About 2,000 people worked on the construction. Its realization required an investment of close to 23,000 million pesos.
Problems during construction
During the dredging of the bed, up to 15 divers had to be hired a day, since they could not stay underwater for more than an hour due to the sand being too fine and the walls of the trench being subjected to strong currents and they were falling apart; the excessive depth that had to be reached to find firm ground subjected the divers to great pressures. During the construction process, four workers lost their lives, due to different causes.
In April 1969 the last two tubes were put in place, and in March the last gate was opened. On December 13, 1969, President Juan Carlos Onganía, together with Governors Eladio Modesto Vázquez (of the province of Santa Fe) and Ricardo Favre (of the province of Entre Ríos), cut the ribbon that opened the passage of this crossing. subfluvial.
New construction project
There is interest on the part of the provinces of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe, to build a bridge between the two provinces with the help of the National State. In June 2009, the governor of Entre Ríos, Sergio Urribarri, asked President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to build a new railway bridge between Paraná and the province of Santa Fe.
The Executive Power of the province of Entre Ríos, created by decree an Executing Unit to carry out the pre-feasibility study of a new physical connection between both capitals. This study group was located in the facilities of the Uranga-Sylvestre Begnis subfluvial tunnel and is in charge of Engineer Francisco Leiva.
Arguments for the new interprovincial connection
The arguments that defend the need for a complementary connection of the tunnel between Paraná and Santa Fe, would be due to the geopolitical development of the region, due to future cargo flows, traffic, increasingly, contributed by the interchange between the Northeast Argentina and Brazil.
The estimate of the minimum cost of a railway bridge is in the order of 1,000 million dollars, but counting the construction of the headwaters and access routes, the value would be approximately 1,500 million dollars. it requires external financing and the contribution of the Nation, because it is impossible to achieve it only by the provinces, in addition, the bridge would be a national route and an international corridor.
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