History of UNESCO Vizcaya bridge

The Vizcaya Bridge is considered an engineering work of art. It was the first transporter bridge in the world and one of the most outstanding constructions of 19th century iron architecture.
This giant was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 12 July 2006, the first recognition for a Basque monument and the first industrial site to receive this title in Spain.

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A bit of history

  • The Vizcaya Bridge connects the towns of Portugalete and Getxo, located on opposite sides of the Bilbao estuary at a point close to the mouth. It belongs to the Port Authority of Bilbao and is currently managed under concession. It is a toll transporter bridge, invented, designed and built by private initiative between 1887 and 1893. The two residential towns of Portugalete and Getxo needed a way to reach each other without interrupting commercial navigation, and Basque architect Alberto de Palacio y Elissague thought up a number of solutions to the problem before opting for the ‘transporter bridge’ whose design boasted collaboration from French engineer and businessman Ferdinand Arnodin, an expert in twisted cables. It wasn't a bridge per se, but rather a gondola suspended by twisted cables on a moving carriage, which slid along rails mounted to the top beam – also fastened and hanging via cables – from a porticoed structure.

  • The Vizcaya Bridge is considered an engineering work of art. It was the first Transporter Bridge in the world and one of the most outstanding constructions of 19th century iron architecture. The concept of the Transporter Bridge is the product of combining two very different techniques: creating a slender and resistant structure and developing a reliable movement system.

  • The bridge’s upper beam, manufactured by Talleres de Zorroza, has a 160 m light and leaves a 45 m clearance gauge over high tide. It is supported by two double piers, one on each side of the river, made by the French factory Le Creusot. It was originally hung off of a double twisted cable system from the heads of the towers and pendulums supported by eight main cables, manufactured by Arnodin with wire drawn by Firminy, making up the catenary between the two towers, anchored in two masses 110 m from either bank.

  • The driving force necessary to propel the gondola was provided by the two-cylinder 25 CV vertical Boulet steam machinery housed in one of the towers. The original gondola was built with a lightweight iron, wood and canvas structure.

  • The Vizcaya Bridge between Portugalete and Getxo is the precursor to all other transporter bridges. It arose out of private initiative at a time of great industrial and economic optimism. It was inaugurated in 1893 and was in continuous operation until it was a target during the Spanish Civil War; on 16 June 1937 a controlled blast on the cable anchor caused the beam to fall over the river.

  • The project to rebuild the bridge was led by engineer José Juan-Aracil Segura, who was then responsible for rebuilding the bridges of Bilbao. He introduced some modernising modifications like the elimination of the guy wires and the inclusion of a Warren truss. Basconia, a company based in Basauri, was commissioned to build the new metal structure and the new cables were supplied by the French-Spanish company Cables de Erandio. Both the traction system and the gondola design also underwent various changes over the course of the more than 130 years that have gone by since it was inaugurated.

  • In the early 2000s, the bridge underwent significant transformation, which affected both the bridge itself, mainly with the replacement of the gondola and engine system, the incorporation of two lifts and the outfitting of a visitable walkway on the upper beam, the gondola, jetties and waiting rooms on both sides.

  • This iron giant was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 12 July 2006, the first recognition for a Basque monument and the first industrial site to receive this title in Spain. UNESCO recognised the bridge saying it ‘is a spectacular and aesthetically pleasing addition to the river estuary and an exceptional expression of technical creativity, reflecting a completely satisfactory relationship between form and function’. It also considered that ‘by means of developing a hanging transporter mechanism and merging ironmaking technology with the use of new steel cables, it created a new form of construction which influenced the design of bridges all over the world’.

  • Its panoramic 45 m-tall walkway can be visited after a panoramic lift ride and you can also enjoy a journey in its gondola, passing from one side of the river to the other. The gondola is in operation every day of the year, around the clock.

    The Vizcaya Bridge has become a major tourism attraction and is now an essential stop to learn about our industrial past.