El Puento Nuevo (Spanish for New Bridge) or Puente de Hierro (Spanish for Iron Bridge) is a parabolic metallic bridge spanning the

Segura Segura (, ; la, Thader; ar, شقورة, Shaqūrah, or ) is a medium-sized river in southeastern Spain. It has its source in the Sierra de Segura. Course The river begins at Santiago Pontones ( province of Jaén), passes Calasparra, Cie ...

River, completed in 1903 and located in the city of

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

(

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; es, Región de Murcia ), is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in ...

, Spain). As the second bridge built in the city across the river, was called ''New Bridge'' to distinguish it from the old bridge (Puente Viejo o

Puente de los Peligros The Puente de los Peligros (Spanish for bridge of the hazards) or also known as the Puente Viejo (Spanish for old bridge) is an arched stone bridge, completed in 1742, that spans the River Segura in the city of Murcia (Region of Murcia, Spain). ...

), even though today it is the second oldest of the city.

Construction

It was designed in 1894 by the civil engineer José María Ortiz and was built by the company Materiales para Ferrocarriles y Construcciones of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

with a budget of 592,982.95 pesetas finishing work on 21 February 1903.Gimeno and Gutierrez. pag.122 The bridge had a central span (46.80 meter long) with external platforms and an upper parabolic chord supported by tubular cells, and eight additional spans of 11.25 m each supported on metallic girders. These height access spans were demolished with the channelling of the river in the 60s, remaining in place only the central parabolic span.

Traffic closure and restoration

In March 2001, the bridge was closed to traffic for structural reasons. Murcia City Council decided its restoration trying to preserve as much as possible the original structure. This led to its transformation into a pedestrian-only bridge because the original bridge was not designed for the traffic loads required by the current Spanish bridge standard
(IAP-98)
Manterola et al. p.256 The restoration project was conducted in June 2001 by

Javier Manterola Javier Manterola Armisén (born 1936, Pamplona) is a Spanish civil engineer and professor at the Escuela Superior de Ingenieros de Madrid. Manterola is particularly known for his work as a bridge designer of the engineering firm ''Carlos Fernánde ...

. After a series of preliminary studies which confirmed the validity of the proposed restoration, works began on 26 July 2002. The bridge reopened to the public on 13 May 2003.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Citation , last = Manterola Armisén , first = Javier , author2=Fernández Revenga, Javier , author3=Muñoz-Rojas Fernández, Javier , title = Memorias de patrimonio 1998–2002. Intervenciones en el patrimonio histórico de la Región De Murcia. Inmuebles. Nº 6 , url =http://www.patrimur.com/archivos/memopatri6/pdfs/puentedehierro.pdf , year = 2004 , publisher = Consejería de Educación y Cultura. Dirección General de Cultura. Servicio de Patrimonio Histórico , place = Murcia , id = D.L.: MU-1.732-2004 Nuevo Pedestrian bridges in Spain