‘Coca Cola’ Bridge to Be Rebuilt, As It Was

Six weeks after it collapsed, the “Coca Cola Bridge” – the pedestrian walkway that traverses busy Road 4 to connect Bnei Brak and Givat Shmuel – is to be rebuilt in the same manner as it existed before a truck that was too high for the underpass hit the bridge and caused it to collapse. Critics told TheMarker that they considered the move to be a dangerous one, and were urging Netivei Yisrael, the government company responsible for the construction to reconsider.

TheMarker reported that officials were anxious to rebuild the bridge, fearing that pedestrians who were used to crossing it would try to dodge traffic and cross the highway itself. There is therefore a great need to rebuild the pedestrian overpass as soon as possible.

Rebuilding the original bridge, based on the segments of it that still stood, was one of three possibilities Netivei Yisrael was considering – the other a complete rebuilding of the bridge, higher than the current one, as well as using the existing bridge infrastructure to build a new, higher overpass.

In the end, Netivei Yisrael opted for a concrete bridge at the same height as the old bridge. The reconstruction work will take four months and cost NIS 4 million. The road will have to be shut down for at least one day in order to complete the work, the report said.