The Tagus River starts in Spain and travels through both Spain and Portugal before flowing into the Atlantic at Lisbon, and is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. Crossing from one side to the other in the past must have been a nightmare until the first bridge, the Ponte 25 de Abril, was built, with construction starting only in 1962. It was inaugurated 4 years later.

As the city developed, this crucial bridge grew to be a bottleneck, so a second bridge was constructed, the Vasco da Gama Bridge. This used to be the longest bridge in Europe (17km) until 2018, when the Crimea Bridge, at 18km across, was built over the Strait of Kerch in Russia. However, as Russia isn’t in Europe, I suppose technically the Vasco da Gama Bridge is still the longest in Europe.

The First Bridge

The Ponte 25 de Abril was initially built to connect Lisbon with the city of Almada on the opposite side of the Tagus River, improving transportation and access to the south of Portugal. The bridge carried both road and rail traffic, and its construction was a significant engineering feat, making it the first bridge to span the Tagus River in that area. Prior to the bridge, the only way to cross was by ferry, which was both timeconsuming and inefficient.

The bridge has two levels: the upper level for vehicles, and the lower for trains, and having personally only travelled to Lisbon by train, this offers a spectacular view when approaching Lisbon. Curving round, you can look back and see the magnificent Cristo Rei statue - a towering monument standing 110m tall, constructed as a symbol of gratitude to God for sparing Portugal during World War II - and looking forward, you get a unique perspective of the city and its waterfront.

The Second Bridge

The Vasco da Gama Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge flanked by viaducts. It was built to help alleviate congestion on Lisbon's first bridge and to restrict traffic between the country's northern and southern regions from passing through the capital city, being further east up the river by around 17k.

Credits: Wikipedia;

This newer bridge has a life expectancy of 120 years, having been designed to withstand wind speeds of 250 km/hr, and apparently has been built to tolerate an earthquake 4.5 times greater than building standards in Lisbon. The deepest foundation piles are up to 2.2m in diameter, and were driven down to 95m below mean sea level. Environmental pressure throughout the project resulted in the left-bank viaducts being extended inland to preserve the marshes underneath, and, cleverly, the lamp posts throughout the bridge are tilted inwards so as not to cast light on the river below.

Significant Names

Both bridges have significant names – the Ponte 25 de Abril is named in honour of the Carnation Revolution, which took place on 25 April, 1974. This peaceful revolution overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime and ushered in democracy in Portugal - and before the revolution, the bridge was named

The Salazar Bridge, after the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar. The name change was a symbolic act to commemorate the end of the dictatorship and the beginning of a new era. The Vasco da Gama Bridge is named after the famous Portuguese explorer of the same name. Construction began in February 1995, and the bridge was opened to traffic on 29 March 1998, just in time for Expo 98, the World's Fair, which celebrated the 500th anniversary of the discovery by Vasco da Gama of the sea route from Europe to India in 1498. He is also known for his voyages that established Portugal as a major player in the spice trade.

Road traffic across the two bridges has an estimated total of around 212,000 vehicles every day, and with more than 150 trains crossing the 25 de Abril Bridge daily, both bridges play a vital role in transportation, trade, and connecting communities. Plans are in the works for the construction of a third bridge to connect Chelas and Barreiro, scheduled for completion in 2030.

Can you imagine how many ferries would be needed without them these days?