Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Street art in Cartagena.
Colombia • 10 days, 9 nights
Colombia Discovery: Coffee, Art & Music
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Muc Lien’s 18 Gates of Hell.
Muc Lien's 18 Gates of Hell
Lighthouse and Museum of Jára Cimrman (Maják a muzeum Járy Cimrmana).
Lighthouse of Jára Cimrman
Markers honor 865 war dead.
Sovjet Ereveld (Soviet Field of Honor)
The intaglio leaves a subtle impression on the land along Riverside Drive in Fort Atkinson.
Panther Intaglio
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
USDA and Washington State agriculture officials tagged this Asian giant hornet. Sept. 10, 2021.
What Ever Happened to the Murder Hornets?
about 14 hours ago
The exterior of the Hall of Records.
Atlas Obscura Mailbag: Urban Exploration, Illegal Carvings, and Repeat Vacations
3 days ago
Biosphere 2 campus (2016)
Biosphere 2: How Volunteers Survived for 2 Years in an Airtight Habitat
3 days ago
Places like Forest Grove linger on the edge of wilderness and civilization.
Listening for Echoes of the Forest Grove Sound
3 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Venezuela Maracaibo General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge

General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge

Once considered a marvel of engineering, there are now doubts about the structural integrity of this 5.4-mile cable-stayed bridge.

Maracaibo, Venezuela

Added By
Tony Dunnell
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge.   The Photographer/public domain
General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge.   The Photographer/public domain
General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge.   Orlando Pozo/cc by 2.0
General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge.   The Photographer/public domain
General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge.   The Photographer/public domain
The Morandi Bridge in Genoa on the day of its collapse.   Salvatore1991/cc by-sa 4.0
The Morandi Bridge in Genoa, days after its collapse.   Michele Ferraris/cc by-sa 4.0
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge was considered a marvel of modern bridge design when it opened in 1962. A few years prior, the government of Venezuela held a competition calling for designs for a bridge across the Tablazo Strait of Lake Maracaibo. Twelve entries were submitted, but in the end it was the design of the innovative Italian civil engineer Riccardo Morandi that won the contract.

Morandi was known for his use of reinforced and prestressed concrete, and his proposal was the only concrete design of the 12 entries. It was also the first of what would become his signature cable-stayed bridges. 

To the layperson, a cable-stayed bridge looks similar to a suspension bridge. But a cable-stayed bridge has cables (or stays) that run directly from the tower to the bridge deck, whereas a suspension bridge uses cables suspended vertically from a main cable to support the deck.

To cross the Tablazo Strait, Morandi’s bridge would have to be exceptionally long. And, once completed, the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge had a total length of 5.4 miles, with five main spans supported from six 302-feet-tall towers, providing a clearance of 151 feet to the water below.

That clearance, however, was not enough to prevent an oil tanker from crashing into the bridge just two years after its completion. On April 6, 1964, the supertanker Esso Maracaibo lost steering due to a major electrical failure, and minutes later crashed into the bridge. An 850-feet section of the bridge collapsed into the water along with four vehicles, killing seven people. It could have been an even greater tragedy had there been fires or explosions on the tanker. It was carrying 236,000 barrels of crude oil at the time, but no spill occurred.

The bridge was repaired, with no damage done to the reputation of its designer, Morandi. It was still considered a marvelous design, and in 2001 the French structural engineer and bridge specialist Dr. Michel Virlogeux wrote that “the Lake Maracaibo Bridge [General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge] deserves to be part of the series of the most famous bridges over the world, with the Golden Gate Bridge, the bridge over the Firth of Forth, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Garabit Viaduct.”

In recent years, however, concerns have been raised regarding the structural integrity of the aging bridge. One notable issue with the bridge is the weighing system, which according to some reports hasn’t worked for years, and as such is not calculating the weight of cargo vehicles—not a good situation for a bridge that carries around 40,000 vehicles a day.

Then, on August 14, 2018, the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, collapsed, sending vehicles crashing to the ground 150 feet below and killing 43 people. The bridge had been designed by Riccardo Morandi, the same man behind the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge in Venezuela. And both were cable-stayed bridges made of prestressed concrete. Understandably, concerns surrounding Morandi's Venezuelan bridge have since skyrocketed.

The investigation into the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa is ongoing, and the bridge itself will be demolished rather than rebuilt. The future of the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge, meanwhile, remains very much in the balance, and its days may well be numbered. Plans are already underway for the construction of a second bridge across Lake Maracaibo.

Related Tags

Bridges Engineering Design

Know Before You Go

The General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge crosses over the Tablazo Strait outlet of Lake Maracaibo in western Venezuela, connecting the city of Maracaibo with the major highways heading east to Barquisimeto and Caracas.

Community Contributors

Added By

Tony Dunnell

Published

April 22, 2019

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.aukevisser.nl/others/id1337.htm
  • https://docplayer.net/74964371-Bridges-with-multiple-cable-stayed-spans.html
  • https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/general-rafael-urdaneta-bridge/
  • https://www.engineeringclicks.com/urdaneta-bridge-collapse-1964/
  • https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/NACE-96320
  • https://www.thelocal.it/20180817/fears-over-twin-of-collapsed-genoa-bridge-in-venezuela
  • https://www.engineering.com/BIM/ArticleID/17517/Italys-Morandi-Bridge-CollapseWhat-Do-We-Know.aspx
General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge
Troncal3
Maracaibo
Venezuela
10.574779, -71.571547
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Relampago del Catatumbo

Venezuela

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Venezuela

Venezuela

South America

Places 16
Stories 7

Nearby Places

Relampago del Catatumbo

Venezuela

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Venezuela

Venezuela

South America

Places 16
Stories 7

Related Places

  • Pelješac Bridge

    Duboka, Croatia

    Pelješac Bridge

    Construction of this bridge was once described as an "act of violence" against a neighboring country.

  • Rolling Bridge

    London, England

    Rolling Bridge

    This unique bridge curls up like a caterpillar to let boats pass and then unfurls again to span a small canal.

  • Golden Bridge.

    Hòa Vang, Vietnam

    Golden Bridge

    This spectacular bridge supported by two gigantic hands looks like something out of a fantasy universe.

  • The lights’ reflection in the Des Moines River below.

    Madrid, Iowa

    High Trestle Trail Bridge

    A half-mile long and three stories high, this bridge over the Des Moines River Valley mimics a descent into a mine shaft.

  • The Inglis Bridge was meant to be deployed quickly.

    Aldershot, England

    Inglis Bridge

    The world's only surviving Inglis Bridge allowed for fast deployment during WWI.

  • Conwy Suspension Bridge

    Conwy, Wales

    Conwy Suspension Bridge

    One of the oldest suspension bridges in the world blends in perfectly with a medieval castle.

  • Passu Suspension Bridge

    Passu, Pakistan

    Passu Suspension Bridge

    Unrefined, uneven, and unstable—this is the real McCoy of Pakistani suspension bridges.

  • The Vulcan bridge

    Vulcan, West Virginia

    Vulcan Bridge

    This rural bridge gave the government of West Virginia a red scare.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.