Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
, ''Puente de Vizcaya'' in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
) is a
transporter bridge
A transporter bridge, also known as a ferry bridge or aerial transfer bridge, is a type of movable bridge that carries a segment of roadway across a river. The gondola is slung from a tall span by wires or a metal frame. The design has been use ...
that links the towns of
Portugalete
Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain.
The town has 45,766 inhabitants (2019 census) and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located a ...
and
Las Arenas Areeta (''Las Arenas'' in Spanish) is a neighbourhood of Getxo (Biscay, Basque Country, Spain). It is an affluent residential area that was built over the sands of a beach where the Gobela Creek died into a diffuse delta at the mouth of the Estuary ...
(part of
Getxo
Getxo () is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in Spain.
It is part of Greater Bilbao, and has 77,946 inhabitants (2019). Getxo is mostly an affluent residential area, as well as being the ...
) in the
Biscay
Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
B ...
province of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, crossing the mouth of the Nervion River.
People in the area, and even the official website, commonly call it the Puente Colgante (literally "hanging bridge", used for ''suspension bridge'' in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
), although its structure is quite different from a
suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
.
History
The Vizcaya Bridge was built to connect the two banks which are situated at the mouth of the Nervion River. It is the world's oldest
transporter bridge
A transporter bridge, also known as a ferry bridge or aerial transfer bridge, is a type of movable bridge that carries a segment of roadway across a river. The gondola is slung from a tall span by wires or a metal frame. The design has been use ...
and was built in 1893, designed by
Alberto Palacio
Alberto de Palacio y Elissague (1856-1939) was a Spanish engineer and architect born in Sare ( Northern Basque Country) and grown up in Gordexola.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 ...
's disciples. The
Engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
Ferdinand Joseph Arnodin was in charge, and the main financier of the project was Santos Lopez de Letona. It was the solution given by the engineer to the problem of connecting the towns of Portugalete and Getxo without disrupting the maritime traffic of the
Port of Bilbao
The Port of Bilbao is located on the Bilbao Abra bay, and along the Estuary of Bilbao, in Biscay ( Basque Country). The main facilities are in the Santurtzi and Zierbena municipalities, approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) west of Bilbao. Also ...
and without having to build a massive structure with long ramps. Palacio wanted to design a bridge which could transport passengers and
cargo
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...
, and that could allow ships to go through. Palacio's shuttle bridge was adequate and could be built for a reasonable price.
The service was only interrupted once, for four years, during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, when the upper section was dynamited. From his house in Portugalete, Palacio saw his masterpiece partially destroyed just before his own death.
Universal Heritage
On July 13, 2006, the Vizcaya Bridge was declared a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. In Spain, it is the only monument in the Industrial Heritage category.
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
considers the bridge to be a perfect combination of beauty and functionality. It was the first to use a combination of iron technology and new steel cables which began a new form of constructing bridges which was later imitated throughout the world.
Operation
The bridge, still in use, is 164 meters long, and its gondola can transport six cars and several dozen passengers in one and a half minutes.
It operates every 8 minutes during the day (every hour at night), all year round, with different fares for day and night services, and is integrated into
Barik card
Barik () is rechargeable contactless smart card, electronic money used for public transport in Biscay (Spain).
It was launched on 2012 as successor of Creditrans travel card. Is available as a credit-card-sized card.
Companies accepting Barik ...
system. An estimated four million passengers and half a million vehicles use the bridge annually.
There are two new visitor lifts installed in the 50-metre-high pillars of the bridge that allow walking over the bridge's platform, from where there is a view of the port and the
Abra bay
The Bilbao Abraabra is Spanish for a small bay. is a
...
.
Architecture
The structure is made of four 61 metre towers which are the pillars and stand on the river banks. The towers are braced by iron cables to the crossbeam and are parallel to the river and by cables following the line of the bridge into the hill behind (on the Portugalete side) and the ground (on the Las Arenas side). The upper
crossbeam
A beam is a structural element that primarily resists loads applied laterally to the beam's axis (an element designed to carry primarily axial load would be a strut or column). Its mode of deflection is primarily by bending. The loads applied to ...
which lies horizontally, rests between two towers by 70 suspension cables. They also help support a great amount of weight and are supported in the corbels which helps balance the weight. The gondola transports vehicles and they hang from a 36-wheeled caty and is 25m. long. It moves along the rails through the horizontal crossbeam.
Construction
The structure is 45 metres high and 160 metres long. In the final design it was decided to use two horizontal
girders
A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ...
to support the rails, and these are supported by four pillars which stand on four
towers
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifica ...
which are situated on the river banks. It is made of
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
. Much iron was extracted from the mines of Vizcaya, which increased the
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
and
shipping
Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...
industry. Therefore, the Vizcaya Bridge also represents the growth and triumph of a new era.
Image gallery
Image:Trainera_Transbordador_Vizcaya.jpg, Closeup of the gondola.
image:Transbordador puente vizcaya.jpg, The shuttle.
Image:Bizkaiko_zubia_behelainorekin.jpg, The bridge emerges from the fog, view from
Portugalete
Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain.
The town has 45,766 inhabitants (2019 census) and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located a ...
.
Image:Portugalete Las Arenas Vizcaya Bridge North 001.jpg, Looking north, from the bridge,
Portugalete
Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain.
The town has 45,766 inhabitants (2019 census) and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located a ...
to the left, the
Estuary of Bilbao
The Estuary of Bilbao (Spanish: ''Ría de Bilbao'' / Basque: ''Bilboko Itsasadarra'') lies at the common mouth of the rivers Nervion, Ibaizabal and Cadagua, which drain most of Biscay and part of Alava in the Basque Country, Spain. In this insta ...
, and
Las Arenas Areeta (''Las Arenas'' in Spanish) is a neighbourhood of Getxo (Biscay, Basque Country, Spain). It is an affluent residential area that was built over the sands of a beach where the Gobela Creek died into a diffuse delta at the mouth of the Estuary ...
.
Image:Portugalete Las Arenas Vizcaya Bridge South 001.jpg, Looking south, from the bridge,
Las Arenas Areeta (''Las Arenas'' in Spanish) is a neighbourhood of Getxo (Biscay, Basque Country, Spain). It is an affluent residential area that was built over the sands of a beach where the Gobela Creek died into a diffuse delta at the mouth of the Estuary ...
to the left, the
Estuary of Bilbao
The Estuary of Bilbao (Spanish: ''Ría de Bilbao'' / Basque: ''Bilboko Itsasadarra'') lies at the common mouth of the rivers Nervion, Ibaizabal and Cadagua, which drain most of Biscay and part of Alava in the Basque Country, Spain. In this insta ...
, and
Portugalete
Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain.
The town has 45,766 inhabitants (2019 census) and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located a ...