Architect: Michel Virlogeux. Bridge over the River Tagus Estuary in Lisbon, Portugal named after Vasco da Gama, the famous 15th century Portuguese explorer, connects the north Lisbon suburb of Sacavém to the south bank of the Tagus near Montijo. The bridge had to be completed on time to carry visitors from southern Portugal, Spain, and other parts of Europe to the Lisbon Expo 98. The bridge was opened on-schedule on March 31, 1998 after only 18 months of construction, a world record for a bridge of this scale and at a cost of one billion US dollars. When built it was the largest bridge in Europe. 11-mile length with over 7 miles of bridges and viaducts. Cable-stayed 534-foot long main span with 573-foot high pylons anchoring 192 cables. total length 17 185 m main span 420 m pylon height 155 m number of cables 192 concrete volume 730 000 m3 Michel Virlogeux, who is famous for his cable-stayed architecture designed the Vasco da Gama bridge to withstand earthquakes four times the strength of the one that flattened Lisbon in the 18th century. Center span is cable-stayed, approach spans are concrete, box girder spans constructed using the balance cantilever method. cable stayed multicable fan arrangement H-pylon Lisbon Estremadura Portugal pylons reinforced concrete bridge includes viaducts of 12.345km, the rest of its length being approach roads. Up to 3, 300 workers built the bridge between February 1995 and March 1998. road bridge with suspended section, 47m high, near the Lisbon side which allows ships to pass under it. The bridge was built with private sector funding.
