The Vizcaya Bridge (Bizkaiko Zubia in Basque, Puente de Vizcaya in Spanish), is a transporter bridge that links the towns of Portugalete and Las Arenas (part of Getxo) in the Biscay province of Spain, crossing the mouth of the Ibaizabal River.
People in the area, and even the official website, commonly call it the Puente Colgante (literally "hanging bridge", used for suspension bridge in Spanish), although its structure is quite different from a suspension bridge.
The Vizcaya Bridge was built to connect the two banks which are situated at the mouth of the Nervion River. It is the world's oldest transporter bridge and was built in 1893, designed by Alberto Palacio, one of Gustave Eiffel's disciples. The Engineer Ferdinand Joseph Arnodin was in charge, and the main financier of the project was Santos Lopez de Letona. It was the solution given by the engineer to the problem of connecting the two towns without disrupting the maritime traffic of the Port of Bilbao and without having to build a massive structure with long ramps. Palacio wanted to design a bridge which could transport passengers and cargo, and that could allow ships to go through. The design of the Palacio Shuttle bridge was adequate and could be built with a reasonable price.
The service was only interrupted once, for four years, during the Spanish Civil War, when the upper section was dynamited. From his house in Portugalete, Palacio saw his masterpiece partially destroyed just before his own death.
On July 13, 2006, the Vizcaya Bridge was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is the only Basque monument on the list. Also, in Spain, it is the only monument in the Industrial Heritage category. The UNESCO considers the bridge to be a perfect combination of beauty and functionality. It was the first to use a combination of iron technology and new steel cables which began a new form of constructing bridges which was later imitated throughout the world.
The bridge, still in use, is 164 meters long, and its gondola can transport six cars and several dozen passengers in one and a half minutes.
It operates every 8 minutes during the day (every hour at night), all year round, with different fares for day and night services, and is integrated into Bilbao's Creditrans transport system. An estimated four million passengers and half a million vehicles use the bridge annually.
There are two new visitor lifts installed in the 50 meter high pillars of the bridge that allow walking over the bridge's platform, from where there is a view of the port and the Abra bay.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 2006
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| Date of Issue: May 6, 2010 | Europa 2010 'Children Books' |
Thank you, David !
Sent on: May 16, 2014
Received on: May 29, 2014
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