Chile

Malleco Viaduct

WHS Score 0.38
rate
Votes 2 Average 0.5
Show votes
Votes for Malleco Viaduct

0

  • Alejandro Lau

1

  • Jarek Pokrzywnicki
The Malleco Viaduct is a late 19th century railroad bridge situated 102 meters above the bottom of the gorge. The iron frameworks were built in Europe and assembled on the spot. The construction of the railroad and the bridge was part of a Chilean government programme to stimulate the economy.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Malleco Viaduct (ID: 1199)
Country
Chile
Status
On tentative list 1998 Site history
History of Malleco Viaduct
1998: Added to Tentative List
Added to tentative list
Criteria
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org

Community Information

Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
No connections… yet. Propose a connection.
News

No news.

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 19/05/20.

Jarek Pokrzywnicki

Malleco Viaduct

Malleco Viaduct (On tentative list)

Malleco Viaduct by Jarek Pokrzywnicki

Site visited in November, 2006. Easy stop if you drive a car on Panamericana. It is located around 600 km south of Santiago de Chile, near the town of Collipulli. You cannot miss the object as it is located just near the highway (and well-marked, there are brown signs on Ruta 5, just search for Monumento Nacional Viaducto Malleco). Malleco Viaduct or Puente Malleco is an engineering monument from the end of XIX century.

At first glance it looks as typical work of Gustave Eiffel but it was designed by local Victorino Aurelio Lastarria in 1887 although Eiffel also presented his offer to Chilean government (rejected during contest). Instead of Eiffel, Chileans chose other French engineering bureau Schneider et Cie. O Le Creusot. Therefore, the bridge was made of steel, manufactured in pieces in France, shipped to Chile and constructed on the spot. At that time, it was the highest railway bridge in the world (96 meters – I did not measure that but some sources also point that it was 101 meters – you will have to judge for yourself what is the truth).

Malleco Viaduct can be visited free of charge, the site is not fenced so you can just place the car somewhere after passing modern bridge (there were no official parking next to the bridge but leaving the car in the close area was quite common) and take few minutes’ walk to reach the monument. Although still in use the trains are not very …

Keep reading 0 comments