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Water divides the provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Ríos. The subfluvial tunnel connects them. I know all about this engineering work.

Cambalache

Túnel Subfluvial Uranga - Sylvestre Begnis

By: Julio De Martini

Recently, the Golden Weddings of the Inauguration of the Subfluvial Tunnel were celebrated Uranga - Sylvestre Begnis. It is a unique work in Latin America that connects, under water, two provinces: the province of Santa Fe with its neighbor, Entre Ríos.

Only thirty kilometers separate these two provincial capitals. In addition, given the vastness of the ParanáRiver, the width of the river dividing the two banks is quite scarce. However, in the past, you could only get from one side to the other through boats. The problem is that the famous raft, which still works, took more than an hour and a half. Today, the crossing is done, almost, in seconds.

An imposing work

The construction of this viaduct was the responsibility of the German company Hochtief AG, while the plans were the work of the Argentine company SAILAV S.A.

Although the natural solution would have been the choice of a bridge, provincial governments could only choose this atypical format because of the lack of collaboration of the National State, which has jurisdiction over water mirrors. In 1960 they signed an inter-provincial treaty that planned the shared task, and in June the following year work began. It was inaugurated on December 13, 1969 and named Hernandarias de Saavedra, first Creole governor of the Río de la Plata, from the colonial era.

The tunnel structure has a length of 2397 m, to which are added access ramps and convergence roads to give a total of about 3497 m. It is built from cylindrical segments of 64 × 10.8 m, coupled and buried on the silty bottom of the river. At its deepest level, the roof of the tunnel is located about 32 m below the surface of the river. The air flow is regulated by a forced ventilation system; the lighting is adjusted automatically to the outside conditions.

Although the tunnel currently has only vehicular roads, it is in foot the infrastructure to integrate it with the rail route.

In 2001, after eleven years of management, his current name, “Raúl Uranga - Carlos Sylvestre Begnis”, was established as a tribute to the governors of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe, respectively, who made possible the realization of the work.