Ponte RodoFerroviária de Viana do Castelo, better known as "Eiffel Bridge", is a structure that transports the Minho Line and National Road 13 over the Lima River near the city of Viana do Castelo, North of Portugal
The Eiffel Bridge connects the parish of Santa Maria Maior in the city of Viana do Castelo to Darque on the site of Cais Novo in the municipality and district of Viana do Castelo
The Eiffel Bridge (road-rail bridge), which crosses the Lima River, between Viana do Castelo and Cais Novo (Darque), was designed by Gustavo Eiffel and inaugurated on June 30, 1878.
A road-rail bridge that crosses the Lima River in Viana do Castelo allowed better transport of people and goods, which at the beginning of the 19th century was done by another, more rudimentary bridge or by river transport.
The bridge has a total length of around 645 m, being considered, due to its dimensions, as a monumental work, it is composed of two metal decks, the upper one being road and the lower one being railway, which have a length of 562 m, and are divided into 10 continuous sections of straight beams, it uses multiple hinge beams, the minimum span between two pillars is 46.08 m, and a symbol of Iron architecture in Portugal.
In 1936, the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses carried out major repair work on this bridge.
At the end of the 20th century, it was the subject of major improvement works as part of a program by the company Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses to rehabilitate its metal bridges, and allow it to continue in service such as the installation of pre-stressing cables to the metal structures.
In 2007, the entire structure received a major rehabilitation intervention, which lasted almost two years and cost 15 million euros.
The intervention increased the width of the deck from 6.88 meters to eight meters, six of which were for the carriageway and the remainder for two sidewalks of one meter wide each.
In 2014, the crossing was the subject of a contract to completely replace the road surface, which was “completely full of holes”.
In 2016, the last intervention carried out on the century-old bridge was carried out to replace the support equipment for the road-rail crossing over the Lima River.
The Eiffel Bridge (road-rail bridge), which crosses the Lima River, between Viana do Castelo and Cais Novo (Darque), was designed by Gustavo Eiffel and inaugurated on June 30, 1878.
A road-rail bridge that crosses the Lima River in Viana do Castelo allowed better transport of people and goods, which at the beginning of the 19th century was done by another, more rudimentary bridge or by river transport.
The bridge has a total length of around 645 m, being considered, due to its dimensions, as a monumental work, it is composed of two metal decks, the upper one being road and the lower one being railway, which have a length of 562 m, and are divided into 10 continuous sections of straight beams, it uses multiple hinge beams, the minimum span between two pillars is 46.08 m, and a symbol of Iron architecture in Portugal.
In 1936, the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses carried out major repair work on this bridge.
At the end of the 20th century, it was the subject of major improvement works as part of a program by the company Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses to rehabilitate its metal bridges, and allow it to continue in service such as the installation of pre-stressing cables to the metal structures.
In 2007, the entire structure received a major rehabilitation intervention, which lasted almost two years and cost 15 million euros.
The intervention increased the width of the deck from 6.88 meters to eight meters, six of which were for the carriageway and the remainder for two sidewalks of one meter wide each.
In 2014, the crossing was the subject of a contract to completely replace the road surface, which was “completely full of holes”.
In 2016, the last intervention carried out on the century-old bridge was carried out to replace the support equipment for the road-rail crossing over the Lima River.
The Classification of the Eiffel Bridge in Viana do Castelo
In October 2020, the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage proposed classifying the bridge as a National Monument.
