Orinoquia Bridge have a clearance of 41 m above water level and are supported by four 120 m tall H-shaped pylons via two planes of cable stays. Unusually, these spans do not lead directly into each other as at other multi-span cable stayed bridges such as the Millau Viaduct, but are anchored at a fixed point on the mid-stream island. The bridge was built to complement the existing Angostura Bridge and to provide a more direct connection with the important industrial city of Ciudad Guayana. In particular, it was intended to provide for a future rail connection to allow the city's heavy
Millau Viaduct public interest to solicit design approaches for a competition. In July 1996 the jury decided in favour of a cable-stayed design with multiple spans, as proposed by the Sogelerg consortium led by Michel Virlogeux and Norman Foster. The decision to proceed by grant of contract was made in May 1998; then in June 2000, the contest for the construction contract was launched, open to four consortia. In March 2001, Eiffage established the subsidiary "Compagnie Eiffage du Viaduc de Millau" (CEVM), and was declared winner of the contest and awarded the prime contract in August. In initial studies, four potential options