Javier Manterola, a civil engineer who left his mark on more than 100 places in Spain, passed away in the spring of 2024. He created the famous Barrios de Luna bridge, which connects León and Asturias. Also the viaduct over the Bay of Cadiz (Constitution Bridge) and the Euskalduna Bridge in Bilbao.
Madrid owes this structural engineer more than a dozen works, including the BBVA skyscraper, the footbridge over the Manzanares River and the Ventas Bridge.
To pay tribute to Manterola for his contributions to the capital, the Madrid City Council will soon inaugurate an open-air exhibition on the Ventas Bridge. Vinyls will be installed on the canopies of the bridge, with images showing the most characteristic works of the award-winning engineer. Each one will have a brief description and a QR code with additional information.
The Ventas Bridge
The Ventas Bridge is now twenty-six years old. In 1998, with the collaboration of architect Carlos Fernández Casado, Manterola devised this steel and concrete construction that links the districts of Ciudad Lineal and Salamanca. It has two curved side decks with a covered pedestrian walkway and a central deck with six parallel beams.
In April, shortly before Manterola’s death, the Madrid City Council remodeled the bridge. The work, which had a budget of 1.5 million euros, was accelerated due to visible deterioration in the metal structure of the construction.
In addition, the municipality removed the graffiti that occupied the windows of the side areas. To prevent them from being painted over again, the Works and Equipment Department decided to install the images that will make up the new engineering museum.