Ponte de 25 Abril

LET'S CLEAR UP MISUNDERSTANDINGS

Portugal’s number one landmark initially serves the practical function of relieving traffic.

Anyone wanting to leave the capital early in the evening will find that it doesn’t always work well. Stuck in traffic, one could read this slightly longer text — and become annoyed enough to become a supporter of another crossing over the Tagus River.

Background

It’s absurd: until 1966, there wasn’t a single bridge over the Tagus River in Lisbon. Yet, the discussion is ancient; the first idea dates back to 1876 and, like subsequent concepts, is a design for a southern river crossing by train — as a reference, one can consider the Ponte Maria Pia in Porto, built by Gustave Eiffel over the Douro River as a rail link to the north, inaugurated a year earlier.

But nothing happens. Not for ages, because besides the structural problems common throughout Europe after World War I, the career of dictator Salazar, beginning in the late 1920s, is based on strict austerity measures. This becomes a rapidly growing problem, especially infrastructurally: Lisbon triples its population to 800,000 by the 1960s, while on the southern bank, we’re talking about a tenfold increase to 70,000 people. It’s quite likely that the ferry connections are more than overloaded. Almost logically: in 1951, they build the first river crossing for cars half an hour north, to divert traffic widely around the capital.

A positive decision for a bridge directly in Lisbon doesn’t come until 1958, long overdue and influenced by two current themes. On one hand, the naval area in Almada gains increasing military importance and requires proper logistics. More publicly appealing is the second argument: a direct connection to the brand-new Cristo Rei. So, it makes sense that for the inauguration of the Salazar Bridge, besides the namesake himself, the military chief and the Cardinal of Lisbon also appear. On this day, plans for building a bridge are 90 years old, the railway connection takes another 30 years to materialize and is completed in 1999.

Propaganda video for the opening. The military parade provides subtle hints about the motivation behind the steel colossus.

Technical Aspects

Over the decades, all possible connections between the banks are examined for feasibility and sense. The project only loses its theoretical status when a clever supporter suggests making the decision to build the bridge as part of Prime Minister Salazar’s service anniversary — thus, they present him the bridge as a gift in his honor.

Implementation is awarded by tender to a consortium led by the American Bridge Company. It’s part of a steel conglomerate with references such as the Panama Canal or the New York Subway and one of the few companies that can handle such a project. The responsible engineers also come from the USA and work for David Steinman, a major figure in bridge construction.

There’s no direct connection to the Golden Gate, that’s simply a visually understandable misunderstanding. Other comparisons also falter: the supposed sister Bay Bridge in California is 30 years older, and the Forth Road Bridge in Edinburgh is simply built at the same time. That there are connections between these and many other structures likely lies in an industry where everyone knows everyone, and new projects always take into account current experiences. Among other things, from San Francisco — lies almost on the same latitude as Lisbon, has a similar climate, comparable geography, and is also an earthquake zone. And yes, the paint color ”International Orange” is adopted from the Golden Gate Bridge: it’s visible in the dark and is therefore a popular warning color on shipping and flight routes.

In Pilar 7, there’s all sorts of background information and a somewhat unimpressive viewing platform — the reinforced anchoring of the steel cable construction in the bridge foundation in the 1990s is interesting. It supports the roadway, after all.

So, the perpetual delay of the ”Ponte” can be seen positively from a technological perspective because aerodynamics are particularly well-managed, and material usage is correspondingly efficient. The most striking feature is the sonorous sound when crossing, which occurs because the inner lanes are built of permeable grids to improve pressure equalization. Also interesting: usually, several kilometers of tracks on suspension bridges are a problem because wind can lead to irregularities in track width. That doesn’t happen here because they’re building an ”American bridge” in truss construction. Its foundation is, by the way, anchored 70 meters deep in the Tagus.

The Costs

If you follow the ultra-conservative stance, then the Ponte is the only Portuguese prestige project that comes without international debts and within the planned budget, even ahead of schedule and without the usual corruption scandal. That’s correct. However, it’s also true that funds borrowed from the state bank, about 250 million in inflation-adjusted terms, are somewhat completely invested in US companies and trigger nasty protests with increasing tolls for refinancing — local economic development benefits only about a dozen construction entrepreneurs who, in typical fashion, line their pockets at the expense of the cheapest labor from the colonies. This applies more or less to the expansions in the 1990s, which are also handled through American Bridge.

From a total perspective, one must even say that construction is postponed until industrial development in southern Portugal can only occur to a limited extent. This, in turn, is at least one reason why the Vasco da Gama Bridge is completely financed from abroad and therefore serves as a bad counterexample. The comparison also falters because EU funding projects are simply there to strengthen structurally and economically weak regions: without the new bridge, Lisbon would be a traffic monster of the worst kind. The costs for the soon-to-be ten times longer structure are ”only” about four times as high. But sure, a lot of money hasn’t landed where it should have.