The City Hall Bridge (; ), formerly known as the Begoña Bridge (), is a

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

on 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 ...

, connecting the districts of on the right and

Abando Abando, formerly known as ''San Vicente de Abando'', is one of the eight districts of Bilbao, Basque Country (Spain). It covers most of the city's centre, located on the left bank of the estuary of Bilbao. It is the only district of Bilbao with ...

on the left.

History

At the end of the 1920s, Bilbao expanded from the estuary and the Begoña Bridge was built to connect the city center with the

Bilbao City Hall The City Hall of the borough of Bilbao, Spain, is located on the right bank of the Estuary of Bilbao across the Puente del Ayuntamiento bascule bridge that links it to the central Abando district. The building was built in 1892 by Joaquín Rucoba ...

and the recently incorporated Begoña district. The city decided to build a drawbridge so that commercial ships from the port could pass. In 1926, the mayor of Bilbao,

Federico Moyúa Federico de Moyúa y Salazar (17 June 1873 - 7 March 1939) was a Spanish politician who served as the mayor of Bilbao. Biography Moyúa was a member of a wealthy liberal family, both his father and grandfather served in the Third Carlist War. H ...

, sent architect

Ricardo Bastida Ricardo Bastida (15 August 1879 in Bilbao, Spain – 15 October 1953) was a Basque architect who was instrumental behind many important buildings in Bilbao and Madrid. In 1923 he proposed a plan of extension of Bilbao to the mouth of Abra, a v ...

(1879-1953) to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to study drawbridges. Cantilever bridges were popular at the time. In Chicago, Bastida took inspiration from the Michigan Avenue Bridge, which was built in 1920. Back home, Bastida tasked the engineers

Ignacio Rotaetxe Ignacio is a male Spanish and Galician name originating either from the Roman family name Egnatius, meaning born from the fire, of Etruscan origin, or from the Latin name "Ignatius" from the word "Ignis" meaning "fire". This was the name of sev ...

and

José Ortiz de Artiñano José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

with the construction of the bridge. The bridge that connected and was initially called the Begoña Bridge. Designed in 1929, its construction began in October 1933 and was carried out by the

Euskalduna Euskalduna de Construcción y Reparación de Buques de Bilbao (shortened to Euskalduna) was an engineering company specialising in ship construction, later rail and road vehicles. The company was based in Bilbao, Spain and operated from 1900 until ...

and

Babcock & Wilcox Babcock & Wilcox is an American renewable, environmental and thermal energy technologies and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets across the globe with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, USA. Historicall ...

factories. The bridge opened on 12 December 1934, but was destroyed on 17 June 1937 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 ...

. The Francoists built a temporary bridge using barges and soon they started the work to rebuild the bridge. It was reopened in 1941 as "

General Mola Emilio Mola y Vidal, 1st Duke of Mola, Grandee of Spain (9 July 1887 – 3 June 1937) was one of the three leaders of the Nationalist coup of July 1936, which started the Spanish Civil War. After the death of Sanjurjo on 20 July 1936, M ...

's Bridge". In 1983, the bridge regained its original name. In 2021, the bridge was subject to a technical inspection by the

Bilbao City Council The Bilbao City Council () is the ayuntamiento of Bilbao (Spain). Its headquarter, the Bilbao City Hall, is located in the Ernesto Erkoreka Plaza. The city council is made up of an executive body and a normative municipal plenary. The executive b ...

, verifying the structural integrity of the bridge.

References

Bridges completed in 1929 Buildings and structures in Bilbao Bascule bridges {{Bilbao-metro-stub