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Puerto Ordaz
Puerto Ordaz is a planned city which, together with the older settlement of San Felix, forms Ciudad Guayana in Bolivar State, eastern Venezuela. Puerto Ordaz is located at the confluence of the Caroni and Orinoco Rivers and is the site of the Llovizna Falls. There are bridges across the Caroni and a new bridge across the Orinoco (Second Orinoco crossing).
It is one of Venezuela's largest cities and is the base for large iron and steelworks and aluminium industries. The city has a large hydroelectric power plant, Macagua. Due to its planned nature, the city has a drastically different feel to it than many other South American cities. Many of its residential neighborhoods have architecture and landscaping that are similar to suburbs in the United States in the 1950s, including 'cookie cutter' homes, sidewalks, and patterned lawns.
Economic activity
Puerto Ordaz is headquarters of basic industries such as Alcasa, Venalum, Bauxilum, Carbonorca , Ferrominera , and Ternium Sidor (iron industry of Orinoco). There are also located in this area of the city the main electricity producer of Venezuela, Edelca and the organization to promote economic activity in the area, the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana, CVG (Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana).
Port
The main port is operated for the Ternium Sidor industry and it's used for iron exportation. The biggest part of the river traffic over the Orinoco river has this port as destination, which is located at the mouth of the Caroni on the Orinoco. There are other 13 ports in the city. The rest of the river traffic is destined for the the iron company, commercial delivery for aluminium companies and others companies located near the river.
Hydroelectric Centrals
In Puerto Ordaz is located the electricity industry of Caroni (Edelca) which manage several of the hydroelectric centrals over the Caroni river: Macagua I and II and Caruachi, all of the 3 located on the urban side of Guayana city. Edelca also built and administers Guri and gave origin to the Guri reservoir, the second biggest lake in Venezuela. Puerto Ordaz is also the only city in the world with a hydroelectric dam in the middle of the city
Law and government
Puerto Ordaz is conformated by Caroni Municipality, Venezuelan law specifies that municipal governments have four main functions: executive, legislative, comptroller, and planning. The executive function is managed by the mayor, who is in charge of representing the municipality's administration. The legislative branch is represented by the Municipal Council, composed of seven councillors, charged with the deliberation of new decrees and local laws. The comptroller tasks are managed by the municipal comptroller's office, which oversees accountancy. Finally, planning is represented by the Local Public Planning Council, which manages development projects for the municipality.
Transportation
Puerto Ordaz is crisscrossed from north to south and east to west by numerous avenues. Some of them are:
Guayana Avenue: It's the main traffic avenue of the city, since it crisscrosses the city from its start to its end, it starts at the toll on the "Ciudad Bolivar-Ciudad Guayana" Highway, and goes all the way through Puerto Ordaz .
Atlantico Avenue: Goes through Puerto Ordaz from west to east on the south side of the city. It intersects with the Las Americas avenue and the Leopoldo Sucre Figarella avenue. This gives a high importance to this avenue.
Las Americas Avenue: Connects the Altavista sector (north of the city) with the centre.
Paseo Caroni Avenue: Stars on the west side of the city and ends at the Atlantic avenue, it's also an important avenue.
On December 3, 2006, was inaugurated the Orinokia bridge, which crosses the Orinoco river.
Recreation
In Puerto Ordaz the principal recreation centers are:
Natural: Llovizna park, Cachamay park, Loefling park.
Shopping centers: Orinokia mall, Altavista Mall, Atlantico Mall.
Family: Macagua Eco museum, Christmas Park and the Italian-Venezuelan Club.
Colleges
Puerto Ordaz is also well known for having one of the best engineering schools in Latin America, the main universities are:
Regional hubs:
Andres Bello UCAB (Catholic University)
UDO (East University)
Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (UGMA) University
Bicentenaria de Aragua (UBA) University
Puerto Ordaz is headquarter of colleges like:
UNEXPO (Polytechnic Experimental National University)
UNEG (Experimental National University of Guayana)
Technical Institutes
Fe y Alegria Puerto ordaz
U.E.E.T.I. Fundacion "La Salle"
I.U.T. Antonio Jose de Sucre
I.U.T. Pedro Emilio Coll
I.U.P. Santiago Marino
Tourism
Inside the city are located the Llovizna and Cachamay Parks, with their waterfalls. Other local attractions are the Caroni Ecomuseum and the Macagua Dam. At the city, from the Angosturita bridge and the San Felix port, it can be observed the amazing union of the Caroni and Orinoco rivers; the different colors of the water on both rivers presents a natural show. Taking Puerto Ordaz as a starting point, it can be visit the Orinoco Delta, the Canaima's National Park, Guri's reservoirs, the colonial castles at the Orinoco riverside and many other interesting places. The Castles of Guayana are located at the right side of the Orinoco, at about 35 kilometers from San Felix.
Hotels
Intercontinental Guayana Hotel
Rasil Hotel
Mara Inn Best Western Hotel
Embajador Hotel
Dos Rios Hotel
See also
Venezuela
Ciudad Guayana
Bolivar state
List of cities in Venezuela
External links
BBC article in a Puerto Ordaz aluminium plant
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Puerto Ordaz
