Photos

Good to be back on TE !!!

The first of a few pictures from a portuguese week-end...

This is a panoramic view of Lisboa, showing the edge of the city and the Tagus River.

The Tagus River Bridge or 25th of April Bridge (Ponte 25 de Abril) in Lisbon, Portugal, was built by the American Bridge Company and completed in 1966, after four years of construction, for $32 million.

It was originally named Salazar Bridge (after the then prime minister/dictator of Portugal, António de Oliveira Salazar), but, after the Carnation Revolution, in 1974, the bridge was renamed the 25 April Bridge (Portuguese: Ponte 25 de Abril), the day when the revolution occurred.

In an emblematic picture of the revolution, captured in video, some people removed the letters saying "Salazar" and painted "25 April", instead of it.

Its total length is 2,277 m, the main span measuring 1,013m (17th largest suspension bridge in the world). It enbodies an important railroad line connecting Lisbon to the south, this line opened in 1999.

At the time of its completion it was the longest suspended span in Europe, had the longest main span in Continental Europe, was the world's longest continuous truss, and had the world's deepest bridge foundation (82 meters).

It is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA and was constructed under North American management. The American Society of Civil Engineers says that "Like its sister bridge, the Golden Gate in San Francisco, the Tagus River Bridge is located in an area with a long history of earthquakes" and seismic data had to be taken into account in its construction.

(extract from Wikipedia Encyclopedia)