Known places: Ponte De Abril Lisbon Portugal, desktop wallpaper nr. 21034

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Ponte De Abril Lisbon Portugal

Tags: portugal (21 pics)

25 de Abril Bridge

The 25 de Abril Bridge (Ponte 25 de Abril "25th of Apr. Bridge") is a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, to the municipality of Almada on the left bank of the Tagus river. It was inaugurated on Aug. 6, 1966 (46 years ago) and a train platform was added in 1999 (13 years ago). It is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge (10 pics) in San Francisco, USA. (The same company constructed both bridges.) With a total length of 2,277 m, it is the 20th largest suspension bridge in the world. The upper platform carries six car lanes, the lower platform two train tracks. Until 1974 (38 years ago), the bridge was named Salazar Bridge.

Construction

From the late 19th century there had been proposals to build a bridge for Lisbon. In 1929 (83 years ago) the idea advanced as a Portuguese engineer and entrepreneur, Ant�nio Bello requested a Government concession for a railway crossing between Lisbon and Montijo (where the Vasco da Gama Bridge, the second bridge serving Lisbon, was later built in 1998 (14 years ago)). As a result, the Minister of Public Works, Duarte Pacheco, created a commission in 1933 (79 years ago) to analyse the request. The commission reported in 1934 (78 years ago), and proposed building a road and rail bridge. Bids were obtained. However, this proposal was subsequently put aside in favour of a bridge crossing the river at Vila Franca de Xira, 35 km north of Lisbon.

In 1953 (59 years ago) a new Government commission started working and recommended building the bridge in 1958 (54 years ago), choosing the southern anchor point adjacent to the recently built monument to Christ the King (Cristo-Rei). In 1959 (53 years ago) the international invitation to tender for the project received four bids. In 1960 (52 years ago) the winner was announced as a consortium headed by the United States Steel Export Company, which had submitted a bid in 1935 (77 years ago).

Construction began on Nov. 5, 1962 (50 years ago). 45 months later the bridge was inaugurated on Aug. 6, 1966 (46 years ago), six months ahead of schedule. Presiding at the ceremony was the President of Portugal, Admiral Am�rico Thomaz. Also present were the Prime-Minister, Ant�nio de Oliveira Salazar, and the Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Manuel Gon�alves Cerejeira. The bridge was named Salazar Bridge (Ponte Salazar), in honour of the Prime-Minister.

The bridge was built by the American Bridge Company, part of the winning consortium and aided by eleven local companies. The steel was imported from the USA. Four workers lost their lives, out of a total of 3,000 who worked on the site. Construction took a total of 2,185,000 man-hours of work. The total cost of the bridge came to 2,200,000,000 Portuguese escudos, or US $ 32 million (US $201 million in 2006 (6 years ago) adjusted for inflation).

Soon after the Carnation Revolution in 1974 (38 years ago), the bridge was renamed the 25 de Abril Bridge, the day the revolution had occurred. A symbol of those times was captured on film, with citizens removing the big "Salazar" brass sign from one of the main pillars of the bridge and painting a provisional "25 de Abril" in its place.

Expansion

The upper platform, running 70 m above water, started carrying 4 car lanes, two in each direction, with a dividing rail. On Jul. 23, 1990 (22 years ago), this rail was removed and a fifth reversible lane was created. On Nov. 6, 1998 (14 years ago) the side walls were extended and reinforced to make space for the present six lanes.

Cars crossing the bridge make a peculiar hum - listen (59s) - as two of the lanes are metallic platforms instead of asphalt.

Since Jun. 30, 1999 (13 years ago), the lower platform carries two railroad tracks. To accommodate this, the bridge underwent extensive structural reinforcements, including a second set of main cables, placed above the original set, and the main towers were increased in height. The rail line had been part of the initial design, but was eliminated for economy, and the initial structure had been lightened. Original builder American Bridge Company was called again for the job, performing the first aerial spinning of additional main cables on a loaded, fully operational suspension bridge.

Traffic soon increased well beyond predictions, and has remained at maximum capacity despite the enlargement from four to six lanes, the addition of the rail line, and the building of a second bridge serving Lisbon, the Vasco da Gama Bridge. A third bridge has been on and off Government plans for some time.

Several movies have been filmed on the bridge, including some scenes in the 1969 (43 years ago) James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service when James Bond is in a car with Marc Ange Draco's henchmen and they drive across a bridge, and the bridge is featured near the end of the movie when Bond marries Tracy and drives with her in Bond's Aston Martin across the bridge again.