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Technical characteristics
The new section of motorway starts at
kilometric marker 244 on the current
A-4, southbound, and runs along a 500
metre section where there are two via-
ducts measuring 80 and 100 metres
long over the Despeñaperros River as
well as the 145 meter Corzo tunnel, all
of which were part of the northbound
section of the old A-4 towards Madrid.
This section has been set up to accom-
modate southbound traffic to Andalusia
and the tunnel has been equipped with
all of the elements necessary to comply
with the minimum safety requirements
for tunnels contemplated in Spanish
Royal Decree 635/2006.
At the other end of the Corzo tunnel and
now in the Community of Madrid, the road
changes from 2 to 3 lanes and connects
with the 450 metre long Corzo viaduct
over the Despeñaperros River. Next is
the Despeñaperros tunnel which is 1925
metres long and runs through the “Los
Órganos” nature reserve of special envi-
ronmental value.
Following this, the road runs through the
280 metre Cantera Tunnel, at the end of
which it connects with the 430 metre long
Despeñaperros viaduct which was built
using a movable scaffolding system to
position the arched segments of the plat-
form.
This viaduct runs over the Madrid-Seville
railway, the old northbound section of the
N-IV and the Despeñaperros River.
Finally, at the Aldeaquemada junction lo-
cated near kilometric point 251 of the cu-
rrent A-4 southbound, the road connects
to the A-4 motorway that was inaugura-
ted last September.
The trunk section of the road comprises
two carriageways with three lanes in each
direction measuring 3.5 metres wide, 2.5
metre outer shoulders and 1.5 metre in-
ner shoulders. Between Santa Elena and
Aldeaquemada there is a 5-metre median
between white lines and a variable me-
dian along the rest of the section due to
the presence of the tunnels.
The work included laying underground
electrical power lines for the tunnels from
the Almuradiel substation to Venta de
Cárdenas (15 km) and a tunnel control
centre located in Santa Elena which con-
tains all of the safety devices installed to
supervise tunnel operations.
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