Puente Baluarte (Baluarte Bridge)

The drive between Durango to the Pacific coast resort of Mazatlán in Sinaloa currently takes about 6 hours but the time will be cut in half when the new 4-lane Puente Baluarte (Baluarte Bridge) is finished later this year. 

Inaugurated by President Calderon in January 2012, the 1.2 billion dollar, 403 meter tall and 520 meter long bridge has been officially certified by the Guinness World Records as the highest stay cable bring in the world.  It is the second highest bridge overall and the longest stay cable span of the American continents. Its official name, Balurate Bicentennial Bridge, refers to the 2010 bicentennial of Mexico’s declaration of independence from Spain. It had been hoped that the bridge would be inaugurated that year as part of the 2010 celebrations, but delays pushed it back to 2012, and now completion is due  in late 2013.

The impressive Baluarte bridge spans a deep ravine in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains in the north and  is part of the new Durango-Mazatlán highway  crossing some of Mexico’s most rugged terrain, from. The plan is that eventually, it will form part of a highway linking the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.