The Vizcaya Bridge is a transporter bridge

Transporter bridge

A transporter bridge is a type of movable bridge that carries a segment of roadway across a river. The gondola is slung from a tall span by wires or a metal frame. The design has been used to cross navigable rivers or other bodies of water, where there is a requirement for ship traffic to be...

 that links the towns of Portugalete

Portugalete

Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain.The town has 51,066 inhabitants and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Estuary of Bilbao, on the left bank...

 and Las Arenas

Las Arenas

Las Arenas is a neighbourhood of Getxo . It is an affluent residential area that was built over the sands of a beach where the Gobela creek died in a diffuse delta at the mouth of the Estuary of Bilbao in the early 20th century.It is connected to Portugalete, at the other side of the firth by the...

 (part of Getxo

Getxo

Getxo is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the north of Spain.It is part of the metropolitan area of Bilbao , and has about 83,000 inhabitants...

) in the Biscay

Biscay

Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...

 province of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, crossing the mouth of the Nervion River.

People in the area, and even the official website, commonly call it the Puente Colgante (literally "hanging bridge", used for suspension bridge in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

), although its structure is quite different from a suspension bridge

Suspension bridge

A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...

.

History

It is the world's oldest transporter bridge

Transporter bridge

A transporter bridge is a type of movable bridge that carries a segment of roadway across a river. The gondola is slung from a tall span by wires or a metal frame. The design has been used to cross navigable rivers or other bodies of water, where there is a requirement for ship traffic to be...

 and was built in 1893, designed by Alberto Palacio

Alberto Palacio

Alberto de Palacio y Elissague was a Spanish engineer and architect born in Sare and grown up in Bilbao....

, one of Gustave Eiffel

Gustave Eiffel

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French structural engineer from the École Centrale Paris, an architect, an entrepreneur and a specialist of metallic structures...

's disciples. It was the solution given by the engineer to the problem of connecting the two towns without disrupting the maritime traffic of the Port of Bilbao

Port of Bilbao

The Port of Bilbao is located on the Bilbao Abra bay, and along the Estuary of Bilbao, in Biscay . The main facilities are in the Santurtzi and Zierbena municipalities, approximately 15 km west of Bilbao...

 and without having to build a massive structure with long ramps.

The service was only interrupted once, for four years, during the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, when the upper section was dynamited. From his house in Portugalete, Palacio saw his masterwork partially destroyed just before his own death.

On July 13, 2006, it was declared a World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

 by UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

.

Operation

The bridge, still in use, is 164 meters long and its gondola can transport six cars and several dozens of passengers in one minute and a half.

It operates every 8 minutes during the day (every hour at night), all year round, with different fares for day and night services, and is integrated into Bilbao

Bilbao

Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

's Creditrans

Creditrans

Creditrans is a travel card used to travel around Biscay, in the Basque Country . The card is the most popular ticket in the area, used by over 100 million passengers in 2007.-History:...

 transport system.

There are two new visitors lifts installed in the 50 meter high pillars of the bridge that allow walking over the bridge's platform, from where there is a view of the port and the Abra bay.

External links

• http://www.puente-colgante.com
• http://www.guiabizkaia.com/gbilbao/portu/Index.html
• UNESCO World Heritage Official Site with the Vizcaya Bridge profile