Another New Bridge for Porto/VN Gaia

Porto already has six beautiful bridges that pass over the Rio Douro and now a seventh bridge has begun contruction.  The new bridge will connect Medas (Gondomar) with Lever (Gaia) and will be operational by April 2011 according to the Ministry of Public Works.  The new bridge, designed by architect Armando Rito, will be almost 760 meters long, 45 meters at its highest point, and have three lanes in each direction.  The two lane sections will be built in parallel with a 20cm gap between them.

Built with pre-stressed concrete, the bridge will have a total of six spans (the longest being 150 meters) and five twin pillar supports, two of which are based in the Rio Douro.

The new bridge has yet to be officially named, but is planning to open to traffic on the same day as the new A41 highway.  Right now there are about 300 workers on this construction project and the bridge represents an investment of approximately 35 million euros.

Currently there are six bridges (more pictures) that pass over the Rio Douro from Porto to VN de Gaia including: Ponte Dom Luís I; Ponte Dona Maria Pia; Ponte de Arrábida; Ponte São João; Ponte do Freixo; and Ponte Infante Dom Hernique.  Previous to these six bridges, the Ponte Pensil stood just downstream from the current site of the Ponte Dom Luís and operated from 1843 - 1887.