The bridge over the El Salado River, located at kilometer 34 of the Las Tunas–Bayamo highway, was reopened to vehicle traffic at noon on Monday, May 4th, after two days of intensive repair work in the province of Granma, according to reports from media and authorities in the area.
The closure of the bridge over the Salado River was decreed last Friday by the Provincial Road Safety Commission of Granma, after the asphalt of the approach on the abutment of the viaduct —on the Granma side— collapsed due to the weakening accumulated since the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
The cyclone struck eastern Cuba on October 29, 2025 as a category 3 storm, causing a significant flood of the Salado River —a tributary of the Cauto River— which progressively eroded the base of the approach embankment until it collapsed.
The main structure of the bridge did not suffer severe damage; only the approach embankment was affected, as explained on-site by engineer Sandra Loureiro Rodríguez, the general director of the National Highway Center.
The repairs were carried out by the Construction Brigade number six of the Braulio Coroneaux Contingent, from the Construction and Assembly Company of Granma (COINGEX), which began work on Sunday, May 3, at 7:00 AM and continued without interruption until 2:00 AM.
The asphalt layer and its supporting base were removed over an area two meters wide and four and a half meters deep, and then filled with rock blasted from the El Cacao quarry in the municipality of Jiguaní, as well as river gravel from a quarry in Bayamo, detailed Raudi Almaguer Capote, general director of the Granma construction company (ECM).
"We worked straight from the moment we started until 2 in the morning because we are aware of the importance of this bridge," said Osvani Fonseca Yero, backhoe operator, without stepping away from his equipment.
The first secretary of the Communist Party in Granma, Yudelkis Ortiz Barceló, had estimated before starting the work that it would take "around 48 hours if there were no issues such as equipment breakdowns or other situations," a timeframe that was met.
Ortiz Barceló published on Facebook that "the work of the builders and road workers has been arduous" and took the opportunity to acknowledge them.
Governor Yanetsy Terry Gutiérrez reported that work continues until the asphalt is restored, which does not hinder the traffic that has already been reestablished.
Engineer Denis Arjona Báez, director of the Provincial Roadway Center in Granma, stated that in the coming days, asphalt mixture will be laid down to completely finish the repaired section.
During the closure, drivers had to use the alternative route Tunas–Holguín–Granma via the Central Highway, which increased transportation costs and impacted private users and small businesses.
The bridge is 50 meters long, rises 12 meters above the surface of the Salado River, and is part of the 73 km road that connects Las Tunas and Bayamo, inaugurated on January 28, 1971, which reduces the distance between the two cities by 76 km compared to the Central Highway.
The hurricane Melissa left several impassable roads in eastern Cuba, with collapsed bridges in Santiago de Cuba and restricted sections in Holguín and Guantánamo, resulting in a road recovery that has been slow and uneven throughout the region.
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