SPAIN - Vizcaya Bridge

Postcard sent by my brother Jordan.
Sent 11/01/2019.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 2006

Vizcaya Bridge straddles the mouth of the Ibaizabal estuary, west of Bilbao. It was designed by the Basque architect Alberto de Palacio and completed in 1893. The 45-m-high bridge with its span of 160 m, merges 19th-century ironworking traditions with the then new lightweight technology of twisted steel ropes. It was the first bridge in the world to carry people and traffic on a high suspended gondola and was used as a model for many similar bridges in Europe, Africa and the America only a few of which survive. With its innovative use of lightweight twisted steel cables, it is regarded as one of the outstanding architectural iron constructions of the Industrial Revolution. The Vizcaya Bridge, one of the most outstanding iron architectural constructions of the European industrial revolution, was hugely innovative due to the fact that it allowed the passage of ships on a wide estuary, with no need for ramps or for raising and lowering of the bridge. This is therefore a system which, at the time it was built, introduced a new solution to meet the requirements at hand and a new method of transport. Furthermore, as regards the materials used, it represents the ironworking methods practiced in the Basque region, starting with exploitation of the local iron ore deposits in Roman times until reaching the peak of its production in the industrial revolution. Its impact at world level was important, given that it was used as a new model for many other transporter bridges of similar characteristics in Europe, Africa and America, very few of which still stand today.

Gracies per la postal, colega!