The Ministry of Public Works says that the collapse of four lightposts on the Francisco Rosario Sanchez Bridge (Puente de la 17) does not have anything to do with the repair works or the state of disrepair of the most northern bridge over the Ozama River.
For safety purposes now, just take the Juan Bosch Bridge or the Ramon Matias Mella or Puente de la Bicicleta when crossing the Ozama River. Bottom line, the Francisco Rosario Sanchez Bridge (Puente de la 17) does have issues.
On Monday, 9 June 2025, four lighting posts along the Francisco Rosario Sanchez Bridge (Puente de la 17), collapsed, impacting the traffic on the most northern bridge that crosses the Ozama River between the National District and East Santo Domingo. Traffic on the south side of the bridge was interrupted. The light posts fell at around 11am on Monday, 9 June 2025 in a kind of domino effect, leaving several vehicles trapped.
Brigades of workers from the Ministry of Public Works, the EdeEste power distribution company, the Digesett and the firefighter workers were sent to the area.
For years, the media has covered the need for a complete overhaul of the aging bridge.
Noticias SIN reports that structural engineer Norberto Rojas, a former member of the National Office for Seismic and Vulnerability Assessments of Infrastructures and Buildings (Onesvie) spoke for El Despertador, the morning talk show of Channel 9. In its coverage on the interview, Noticias SIN reported that Rojas explained he participated in the technical inspection of that bridge in 2022 and reported that several elements were in advanced deterioration. He said the bridge did not receive adequate maintenance. He criticized that the government is building new infrastructure and not giving the older structures adequate maintenance.
Speaking during the interview with El Despertador, he explained that the bridge is a hyperstatic structure—meaning it has multiple supports and redundancies. This means the failure of a single component can accelerate the deterioration of the rest. “You cannot play with that. One failure redistributes the load to other elements that may already be weakened, and this can trigger a chain reaction of failures,” he said.
The bridge is key for the intense traffic that commutes between east and west side of the Ozama River.
Read more in Spanish:
Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
CDN
El Dia
10 June 2025