It is a milestone of European industrial heritage and a symbol of contemporary Euskadi that became one of the most dynamic regions at an industrial level on the entire continent since the 19th century: it is the Bizkaia Bridge that has linked the towns of Portugalete and Getxo, through its Las Arenas neighborhood.

And it is about the first ferry bridge metal structure in the world, currently being one of the few that remains standing and offering service: reason enough to declare it World Heritage in 2006. We are going to the Bilbao estuary to get a closer look at the most original bridge in Spain.

Bizkaia Bridge, icon of Basque engineering

It is already the fifth boat that crosses the mouth of the Nervión and Ibaizábal since the bridge was inaugurated 130 years ago, the most striking element of this structure and which justifies its name, “ferry bridge” because transfers passengers and vehicles from one side of the estuary to the other. And that was the objective set by the promoters of the project at the end of the 19th century: to unite the two banks of the Bilbao estuary without hindering navigation.

There are three names that we must note as initially responsible for this Basque engineering adventure: the Basque architect and engineer of French origin Alberto Palacio Elissaguewho designed the bridge, the French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin who built it (and exploited his patent) and the Bilbao businessman Santos López de Letona who promoted and financed it.

The Bizkaia Bridge project

Up to three different projects were evaluated before the final one. And the company was not simple: it was about joining two shores of a very different nature: the steep and rocky one of Portugalete and the low and sandy one of the Getxo neighborhood of Las Arenas, facilitating communication between the, at that time, small seaside towns. of the Basque coast.

And all of this without hindering navigation in the industrial communication axis of the region, so important for the whole of Spainthanks to the beginning of the exploitation of its 25-kilometer iron vein.

That is why Palacio y Elissague analyzed in detail all the options available in a time of worldwide engineering revolution thanks to the incorporation of iron into architecture both as a practical and representative element of the time. With milestones like Eiffel Tower —which had been completed months before— put an end to the neoclassical aesthetics and its “noble” materials, such as marble, to embrace the iron as a symbol of modernity.

After discarding other options from the impressive engineering manual that was being written at the end of the 19th century in much of the world, Palacio y Elissague opted for a ferry bridge with a structure based on two horizontal beams that would support the rails, supported on four pillars settled on the docks on both banks of the estuary.

The innovations of the Bizkaia Bridge

Palacio y Elissague combined the engineering of cable-strung bridges that had been developed since the middle of the century with the technology of steam engines that powered mechanical vehicles, one of the foundations of Industrial Revolution.

The basic structure of the bridge is made up of four iron towers 61 meters high, which are its pillars, joined together by a crossbar of 160 meters located 45 meters above high tide level. The main objective was thus fulfilled: not to hinder the navigation of boats through the estuary.

The iron pieces rolled in the workshop and joined together with red-hot rivets, in addition to the eight steel support cables anchored in the foundation block at the ends of the bridge (about 110 meters away from the towers) are the framework. of the metal structure.

But the most iconic element of the set is the boat that gravitates between the two towers hanging from the upper horizontal crossbar which, in turn, is attached to the structure by the hangers: these are the 70 steel cables that justify the nickname “suspension bridge”, since the crossbar hangs over the towers, not being welded or riveted to them.

The Bizkaia Bridge today

Originally, the nacelle used a cable and pulley traction system powered by a steam boiler located in one of the two towers. But the current nacelle, installed in 1999, which is the fifth in the bridge’s history, has twelve electric motors.

Only the Civil war It was able to make this bridge tremble until its destruction in 1937 by the Engineer Battalion of the Northern Army before the imminent arrival of the national troops. The engineer Juan José Aracil began its reconstruction in 1939.

Seven decades later, the Bizkaia Bridge achieved distinction as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for being “one of the most outstanding works of iron architecture of the Industrial Revolution, highlighting its innovative use of braided light steel cables.”

And, as the first suspension bridge with a ferry vehicle in the world, it was the reference for a total of twenty similar bridges that were built in the last third of the 19th century. Currently, only nine are still standing and only four more are serving, highlighting that of La Boca in Buenos Aires.

Currently, the bridge has a nacelle with capacity for six vehicles and 200 passengers, 100 in each room. Likewise, two panoramic elevators have been enabled to go up to the walkways, in order to carry out tourist visits, one on each side of the bridge, and which are accessed through the terraces.