25 de Abril Bridge

The 25 de Abril Bridge  is a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, to the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tejo river. It was inaugurated on August 6, 1966 and a train platform was added in 1999. Because of its similar coloring, it is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA. In fact, it was built by the same company (American Bridge Company) that constructed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and not the Golden Gate, also explaining its similarity in design. With a total length of 2,277 m, it is the 21st largest suspension bridge in the World. The upper platform carries six car lanes, and the lower platform carries two train tracks. Until 1974, the bridge was named Salazar Bridge .

From the late 19th century there had been proposals to build a bridge for Lisbon. In 1929 the idea advanced as a Portuguese engineer and entrepreneur, António Bello requested a Government concession for a railway crossing between Lisbon and Montijo (where the Vasco da Gama Bridge, the second bridge serving Lisbon, was later built in 1998). As a result, the Minister of Public Works, Duarte Pacheco, created a commission in 1933 to analyse the request. The commission reported in 1934, and proposed building a road and rail bridge. Bids were obtained. However, this proposal was subsequently put aside in favour of a bridge crossing the river at Vila Franca de Xira, 35 km north of Lisbon.

In 1953 a new Government commission started working and recommended building the bridge in 1958, choosing the southern anchor point adjacent to the recently built monument to Christ the King (Cristo-Rei). In 1959 the international invitation to tender for the project received four bids. In 1960 the winner was announced as a consortium headed by the United States Steel Export Company, which had submitted a bid in 1935.