Maria Pia Bridge

About

Maria Pia Bridge (Ponte Maria Pia), commonly known as Dona Maria Pia Bridge (Ponte de Dona Maria Pia), is a railway bridge built in 1877 and attributed to Gustave Eiffel. It is situated between the Portuguese Northern municipalities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. The double-hinged, crescent arch bridge is made of wrought iron and spans 353 m (1, 158 ft), 60 m (200 ft) over the Douro River. It was part of the Linha Norte system of the national railway. At the time of its construction, it was the longest single-arch span in the world. It is no longer used for rail transport, having been replaced by Ponte de São João (or St. John's Bridge) in 1991. It is often confused with the similar Luiz I Bridge, which was built nine years later and is located 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the west, although the D. Luis Bridge has two decks instead of one.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.