Among the various bridges in Oporto, this is the best known and most impressive one. Built over the Douro river, it connects the city’s riverbank with the docks of Vila Nova de Gaia. Today, it is part of the Porto Historic District, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The bridge is made up of two steel decks, the upper one with a length
of nearly 390 meters and at 62 m over the river, and the lower one with a length of 174 meters and at 10 meters height. Both are held by a steel arch with a span of 172 meters between supports and five intermediate columns.
The 3,000 tons of steel of this emblematic bridge, inaugurated on October 31, 1886, were projected by the engineer Teofilo Seyrig, disciple of
Gustave Eiffel. The Porto underground runs on the upper deck of this bridge a road connecting the two shores does it on the lower deck.
Given the magnitude of the bridge and its peculiar design, the erection of BRIO scaffolding for its restoration was a highly demanding challenge.
