25 de Abril Bridge
38.689761111111 - 9.1771972222222Koordinaten: 38 ° 41 ' 23.1 "N, 9 ° 10' 37.9 " W
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Tejo
The Ponte 25 de Abril ( German: 25th of April Bridge ) is a 3.2 -kilometer-long bridge section in Portugal with a 2278 -meter-long suspension bridge over the Tagus. It is the world, after the Tsing Ma Bridge, the second longest suspension bridge with a combined road and rail transport. It combines in a north-south direction the Lisbon district Alcântara with the city of Almada. Over the bridge, in six tracks, the A2/IP7 highway. Among the locals it is simply called Ponte.
History
First reflections on a compound in the south go back already proven in the late 19th century. 1913, the government submitted the proposal of a bridge structure of the Rocha Conde de Óbidos to Almada. These plans were taken up again in 1921 by the Spanish Civil Peña Boeuf. He reached that his proposal heard by the Portuguese Parliament and was discussed during 1929, the Portuguese António Belo Civil favored a rail link between Lisbon and Montijo district Beato. Following these initiatives, responsible for Public Works Minister Duarte Pacheco sets 1933 a first Commission. The 1934 results presented ultimately resulted in the construction of the bridge in the north- east at Vila Franca de Xira.
Not until 1953 did another commission by the government was instructed to draw up plans and to consider, in turn, should enable both a rail and road traffic. In 1958, the Commission made the recommendation of a bridge connection from Lisbon to the south bank of Cristo Rei. The following public tender, which was attended by the four companies, a consortium was led by the American steel company U.S. Steel as a winner out ( U.S. Steel had already been presented in 1935 and plans to plans now used the Offices of David B. Steinman ). The execution of construction was carried out by the American Bridge Company supported by eleven other local businesses.
On November 5, 1962, started the construction. The steel required was imported from the United States. Of the up to 3000 workers at the construction site lost four of their lives. With the completion in August 1966 about 2.2 million person-hours were needed, and the planned duration of construction fell short by six months.
In an act of state such as President Admiral Américo Tomás, Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar and the Cardinal of Lisbon Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira was the bridge on August 6, 1966 under the name Salazar bridge inaugurated and opened to the public under the presence of high government officials. After the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, it was renamed Ponte 25 de Abril.
During the construction of the extension of a railway deck with two rail tracks was provided. This was only realized between the years 1996 and 1999 under the deck along with the widening to two lanes. For this, two new ones were mounted on the two existing supporting cables, which are anchored in new external anchor blocks. The expansion was released on 30 June 1999 and since then the Ponte 25 de Abril part of the Linha do Sul. The tender for the Eixo Norte / Sul won the private rail operators FERTAGUS, since the offering regional trains between Lisbon and Setúbal Coina respectively. The CP since 2004 goes through the bridge, and this only in the long-distance transport in the direction of Alentejo and Algarve. The bridge is used exclusively in passenger trains, freight trains from north to south Linha de Vendas Novas use the which merges in Vendas Novas in the Linha do Alentejo, while this then leads into Funcheira in the Linha do Sul.
Since 1991, the bridge is once a year as a starting point for the Lisbon Half Marathon.
Construction
The main opening of the Ponte 25 de Abril has a span of 1012.88 m, the two side spans of 482.42 m. Along with a port opening on the south side with 98.64 m span and two connection openings on the north side, each with 98.64 m is obtained for the steel suspension bridge has a length of 2275.64 m. The approach bridge on the north bank of the Tagus, a prestressed concrete construction, has in spans of up to 76 m, a length of approximately 937 m. The two main pillars of the suspension bridge having a height of 190 m and 82 m below sea level established. The height of the roadways above the water is 70 m.
Cost / toll
Construction costs amounted at that time to approximately 2.2 billion escudos or U.S. $ 32 million ( Converted to 2006, this would be around 201 million U.S. dollars, respectively). The bridge should be funded by toll revenues to 20 years. After this time, the bridge toll should be reduced or even be toll- free, this has not been implemented by government decision. The announcement of the increase in toll fees from 100 to 150 escudos on 14 June 1994 resulted in the following days to serious anti-government protests by Cavaco Silva. During a demonstration on 25 June 1995, there were riots, injuries and a bridge blocking of about 12 hours. With the increase in public funding for the construction of the Ponte Vasco da Gama should be avoided. For this purpose, a concession to collect tolls on both bridges was awarded to 40 years at the private consortium Lusoponte.
The toll was initially in both directions - since 1993, this is in Almada required only for the south-north direction (into town ):
In August, the use of the bridge is toll-free.
Traffic
In 2006, crossed in the peak over 7,000 road vehicles per hour, the bridge, on the day there were an average of about 150,000 road vehicles and around 160 railway vehicles. A total of about 390,000 people daily use the building.
Comparison to Golden Gate Bridge
Due to the color of the paint and the truss-like stiffening girder, the Ponte 25 de Abril has at first glance similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. However, the striking pylons are transversely stiffened by horizontal bars do not, but by oblique, intersecting bars. In addition, most dimensions of the Ponte 25 de Abril are smaller. The actual model is also the double-decker San Francisco Bay Bridge, which was also, however, built by the American Bridge Company, already in the 1930s. As a sister bridge over the Forth Road Bridge can be referred in Edinburgh because it is constructed very similar in pylons and stiffening girders and was built in the same period.
Tejobrücken in Lisbon
The 25 de Abril Bridge is next to the Ponte Vasco da Gama, the only bridge that connects the city directly to the south and east side of the River Tagus. Since 2007, discussed the construction of a third bridge connection. Consideration is also a tunnel under the River Tagus. The connection is created between Barreiro and Beato and then bring an express train from Madrid to Lisbon.
Trivia
The Ponte 25 de Abril has been used in numerous films as a film set, including James Bond in On Her Majesty.