Bridge of the Americas (El Paso–Ciudad Juárez)

Bridge of the Americas Puente Río Bravo
The Bridge of the Americas as seen from El Paso, Texas in June 2016.
Carries	Fed. 45/ I‑110, pedestrians
Crosses	Rio Grande Loop 375
Locale	El Paso–Ciudad Juárez
Official name	Puente Internacional Córdova-Las Américas
Other name(s)	Cordova Bridge
Named for	The Americas
Owner	City of El Paso
History
Construction begin	1996
Construction end	1998
Statistics
Toll	None

The Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) is a group of international bridges which cross the Rio Grande (Río Bravo) and Texas State Highway Loop 375, connecting the Mexico–United States border cities of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua and El Paso, Texas, via the MX 45 (known as Avenida de las Américas in its Ciudad Juárez section) from the south and the I-110 from the north. The bridge is colloquially known as "Puente Libre" in Ciudad Juárez, officially as "Puente Internacional Córdova-Las Américas" or "Puente Internacional Córdova de las Américas", and also known as "Puente Río Bravo", "Cordova Bridge" and "Free Bridge".^[1]

Description

U.S.-bound traffic exiting the bridge in June 2002.

The Bridge of the Americas consists of two bridges, actually four separate structures: two two-lane bridges for truck traffic, northbound and southbound, and two four-lane bridges for passenger vehicles, with two sidewalks for pedestrians.

History

The bridges were constructed from 1996 to 1998. The bridge is owned by the International Boundary and Water Commission, and operated in its American section by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and its Mexican section by Mexican Customs.^[1] It is only one of five bridges connecting Mexico and the United States from Ciudad Juárez,^[2] and to date (i.e. 2015), is the only one that is toll free (hence the name Puente Libre).

In popular culture

• The 2013 American drama television series The Bridge is named after the Bridge of the Americas and set on it and surrounding areas.^[3][4]
• The bridge is featured in the 2015 film, Sicario.

See also

• Bridges portal
• Mexico portal
• Texas portal
• List of crossings of the Rio Grande

References

1. "Texas-Mexico International Bridges and Border Crossings: Existing and Proposed (2013)", Texas Department of Transportation [accessed 2015-08-04]
2. "Puentes Internacionales Ciudad Juárez", Google Maps.
3. Sepinwall, Alan (July 8, 2013). "'The Bridge' producer Meredith Stiehm on translating Denmark/Sweden into U.S./Mexico". HitFix. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
4. The Bridge (TV Series 2013—) at the Internet Movie Database

External links

• Media related to Bridge of the Americas (El Paso–Ciudad Juárez) at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 31°45′52.81″N 106°27′4.88″W / 31.7646694°N 106.4513556°W