The Barca Bridge is a bridge over the

Lérez The Lérez is a river in South West Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. The river meets the Atlantic Ocean at Pontevedra, where it creates Pontevedra's ria. The sources of the long stream are in Serra do Candán, in the mountain of San Bieito, in t ...

River, at its mouth in the Pontevedra Ria, which connects the city of

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

(in the area of A Moureira) with the municipality of

Poio Poio is a municipality in the province of Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Pontevedra. Poio is located in the north shore of the Ría de Pontevedra, between Sanxenxo and the provincial capit ...

in Spain.

History

According to documents from 1197, the boat passage, which gave its name to the place and the bridge, was controlled by the

Benedictine monks The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, the ...

of the monastery of St John of Poio. In the 19th century, the Society of Seamen of Pontevedra exploited the passage, which led to clashes with the monastery of Poio, the Marquis of Riestra and the Spanish Navy. To avoid these confrontations, given the need to build a bridge, the "Barca bridge building society" was created, formed by the Seafarers' Society, the inhabitants of Poio and capitalist partners.

First bridge

The first low wooden bridge at La Barca was built in 1867 and began operating in 1871. The structure included a lifting section, which was lifted with a

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension (physics), tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a Bobb ...

to allow the passage of large ships to the Galera and Burgo quays.

Second bridge

The administrations, especially the Marquis of Riestra, who had a rural estate and a factory in A Caeira, and politicians such as Eduardo Vincenti or

Eugenio Montero Ríos Eugenio Montero Ríos (13 November 1832, in Santiago de Compostela – 12 May 1914, in Madrid) was a leading member of the Spanish Liberal Party before being part of a 1903 schism that divided it. He also served briefly as Prime Minister of Sp ...

, demanded the construction of a raised bridge and another parallel one for the passage of the railway. In 1887, work began on what was to be a stone bridge. Work was halted for seven years. In 1894, the construction of a metal bridge became necessary, as it is in

contemporary architecture Contemporary architecture is the architecture of the 21st century. No single style is dominant. Contemporary architects work in several different styles, from postmodernism, high-tech architecture and new references and interpretations of tradit ...

, because of the greater ease of transport, which allowed for more ductile handling and faster execution of the bridge. The work brings together the postulates of metal architecture, which has been using steel as an architectural material since

Joseph Paxton Sir Joseph Paxton (3 August 1803 – 8 June 1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Member of Parliament. He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde ...

built

the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around ...

pavilion at the London World's Exhibition in 1851. The project, designed by Luis Acosta and Eduardo Fungueiriño, was carried out by Chavarri, Petrement and Co. During its construction, the workers hired by the industrialist Benito Corbal went on strike for some time, which ended thanks to the mediation of the civil governor, Augusto González Besada. At the beginning of the 20th century, work began on the central metal arch. The bridge was inaugurated on 3 July 1905. It had an arch with a span of , resting on two solid

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

supports, and three arches on each side, in which ornamental motifs in the Gothic style, in the taste of the time, were carved. On the eve of the inauguration, load tests were carried out, putting under static load and 13 carriages of each under dynamic load. The bridge became a dividing line in the area of A Moureira, leaving on one side the residential area of the sailors, on the other the area of taverns and brothels.

Renovations

In 1945, work began to replace the metal structure with a concrete arch of span designed by Eduardo Torroja Miret. However, the work was not completed until 1950. In 1989, the masonry

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end that provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

on the south side was modified from three arches to a wider one, below which is Corbaceiras Avenue. Two years later, the twin abutment on the north side was also widened to accommodate the AP-9 below. Nowadays, after renovation work in the mid-1990s and 2010s, the bridge has two-way traffic for vehicles and covered pavements for pedestrians.

Description

The bridge owes its name to the fact that in the past, the passage from Pontevedra to Poio was made by boat. The current bridge is formed by a large reinforced concrete arch with a span over the

Ria de Pontevedra The Ria de Pontevedra is located in the Province of Pontevedra, in Galicia, Spain. It is one of the three main maritime entrances of Galicia, the Rías Baixas, the most touristic area of the region. It is also the most regular of them and the thi ...

and two smaller low masonry arches with a span on the landward sides. It is decorated with bas-reliefs at the bottom of the large concrete support pillars covered in granite. The bridge is wide and long. The span of the arch supports two lanes of road traffic and two pavements. To protect the passers-by from the winter winds and rains, there is a wooden

awning An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of Acrylic fiber, acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tight ...

over the pavements of the bridge.

Gallery

File:Pontevedra-Club naval y Ponte da Barca (14927779203).jpg, Barca Bridge and marina File:Pontevedra. Ponte da Barca.jpg, Concrete bridge arch dating from 1950 File:Pontevedra-Puente-de-la-Barca.jpg, Bridge and

Paseo Marítimo de Pontevedra The paseo marítimo of Pontevedra is a pedestrian way along the seafront facing the Ria de Pontevedra, ria of Pontevedra, in Pontevedra, Spain. This coastal public space is built in the urban and semi-urban area of the city and defines its encou ...

History

First bridge

Second bridge

Renovations

Description

Gallery

References

See also

Related articles

External links