Just by looking at it, one gets an idea of the magnitude of the expansion project of El Higueral golf course. A bridge like this is something unique in a golf course. It has been made to join the current nine holes with the future nine that will complete an 18-hole course in a privileged natural enclave of the Costa del Sol, in Benahavís.
Rod Bastard, director of the Marbella Club Golf Resort and El Higueral and designer of the latter course and the other nine holes that will complete the 18-hole course, explains succinctly what the spectacular infrastructure consists of. “Instead of making a normal concrete bridge,” he says, “we wanted to do something emblematic as well as useful, and we believe it will be an added interest to the beauty of the river. It is almost ninety meters long and has the style of a railroad bridge with an aged rust finish that will not degrade over time. In addition to buggies, it is wide enough for machinery to pass.
-What can be revealed about the future expansion of El Higueral?
-The design is done, but we are awaiting the approval of the General Urban Development Plan of Benahavís, which is in the hands of the Junta de Andalucía. Every year there is news that it is going to be unblocked, and in theory this year it could become a reality. With the extension, the course will have 18 holes, clubhouse, driving range and an unbeatable location next to the road and the town of Benahavís. It will be a very nice course and I think it will be a good thing for the Costa del Sol. The idea is to start this year, and the course could be open a year and a half to two years later.
Cost of 1,300,000 euros
The bridge is made of steel, of the arch type, with embedded supports on direct foundations on the ground, with the aid of micropiles on the right bank. The span (free length) of the bridge is 85 meters, and there is no known bridge of similar characteristics in Europe whose use is only for a golf course. The investment amounted to some 1,300,000 euros, and more than 150 tons of top quality Corten steel were needed, with the advantage that this type of steel does not require any type of maintenance, since it self-oxidizes, creating a permanent layer of protection against external agents, with the characteristic reddish color that it acquires. The main singularity of the bridge is that it is assembled in its entirety on site, and then lifted by means of a crane system until it is placed on the foundation, an operation that required practically 18 hours of continuous control and monitoring.
The project was written by José Manuel Domínguez Cabello and Pablo Cabrera Martínez. The project manager was Pablo Cabrera Martínez.
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