The Malleco Viaduct ( es, Viaducto del Malleco) is a

railway bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whic ...

located in central Chile, passing over the

Malleco River Malleco River is a river in Malleco Province, La Araucanía Region, central Chile. It rises in the western slopes of the Andes, within the Tolhuaca National Park and near Tolhuaca Volcano. After passing by Tolhuaca, it drops into a 50 meter wat ...

valley, south of

Collipulli Collipulli is a city and commune forming part of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. Its name means "coloured lands" in the Mapuche language spoken in the area. It has a population of 22,354 (2005) and an area of . Its ...

in the

Araucania Region Arauco or Araucanía may refer to: Places * Araucanía Region, an administrative region of Chile, the heartland of the historic region of Araucania * Araucanía (historic region), a historical region of Central Chile also called Arauco * Arauc ...

. It was opened by President

José Manuel Balmaceda José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández (; July 19, 1840 – September 19, 1891) served as the 10th President of Chile from September 18, 1886, to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile. While he wa ...

on October 26, 1890. At that time, it was the highest such bridge in the world. The

Panamerican Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

passes right next to the

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

. A popular myth claims that the bridge was designed by

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...

. Eiffel made a bridge proposal, but it was rejected by the Chilean authorities. It was designed by Aurelio Lastarria Henry Grattan Tyrrell
''History of Bridge Engineering'', Published by The author, Chicago, 1911, p. 384
/ref> and the construction of the bridge was awarded to Schneider et Cie. O Le Creusot, another French company. The bridge was declared a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

in 1990.Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales de Chile: Viaducto del Malleco
/ref>

References

Buildings and structures in La Araucanía Region Bridges completed in 1890 Railway bridges in Chile Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Viaducts National Monuments of Chile Transport in La Araucanía Region {{Chile-bridge-struct-stub