The 25th of April Bridge, which connects Lisbon to Almada, “is subject to permanent inspection and maintenance,” IP assured Lusa, adding that there is “an internal team exclusively dedicated” to these functions.

“These activities represent an average annual investment of around €1.6 million, covering inspections, maintenance, consumables and equipment, as well as studies, projects and consulting services,” said the public company that manages road and rail networks.

Inaugurated on 6 August 1966, this suspension bridge is an international engineering benchmark, with a deck over two kilometres (km) long, 74,196 km of steel wire and 72,600 tons of steel used in its construction.

Its main towers rise 196 meters above the water level, and the south pillar reaches a depth of 80 meters below the water level.

Support from specialised entities

For its maintenance, IP also relies on the support of specialised entities, such as ISQ – Welding and Quality Institute and LNEC – National Laboratory of Civil Engineering, responsible for the structural monitoring of the bridge, “including monitoring the overall behaviour of the structure, geodetic monitoring and the implementation of instrumentation plans, among other specialised work aimed at verifying the behaviour of the infrastructure in operation against the criteria adopted in its design”.

The original bridge designer, the American company Parsons, is also monitoring the structure's behaviour and the main interventions carried out on it, together with IP, the entity pointed out.

Bridge painting

The most recent rehabilitation and structural reinforcement project was completed in March 2024, and studies are currently underway for the general painting project of the bridge, to "ensure the preservation and durability of this infrastructure," IP revealed.

In September 2025, Chega's elected representative in Lisbon, Bruno Mascarenhas, stated at a Municipal Assembly meeting that the bridge "is in a worrying state in terms of its structural integrity."

When questioned by Lusa, IP guaranteed that the inspection, monitoring, and maintenance activities carried out "ensure that the 25th of April Bridge continues to meet the highest standards of safety, reliability, and performance, preserving an emblematic infrastructure that, every day, guarantees the crossing of the Tagus River for hundreds of thousands of people."

Daily use

Currently, IP reinforces that the bridge is used daily by approximately 150,000 vehicles and 174 trains, serving, in its road and rail functions, more than 100 million users per year.