Viana do Castelo Chamber concerned about the (in)safety of pedestrians on the Eiffel Bridge

The mayor of Viana do Castelo this Tuesday regretted the delay by Infraestruturas de Portugal in implementing the definitive solution to protect the catenary of the Eiffel Bridge, provisional five years ago, putting pedestrian safety at risk.

Luís Nobre, who was responding to a question from the independent councilor Eduardo Teixeira, in the period before the agenda of the council meeting, said that Infra-estruturas de Portugal (IP) has, since last November, had a definitive solution for the operation, but has not yet implemented it.

The need to protect the Eiffel Bridge’s catenary, which is 146 years old, is due to the modernization and electrification project of the Minho Line.

“It was assumed by the vice-president of IP that the works would begin in January. You’ve already insisted on him twice. It is starting to be difficult for the people of Viana and for us, who are aware of the difficulties and dynamics of these processes, to understand that a provisional situation lasts five years”, he stated.

The Lusa agency questioned IP, but has not yet received a response.

“SERIOUS ACCIDENT MAY HAPPEN”

The socialist mayor acknowledged that the current classification of the metal bridge as a National Monument introduces “complexity” to any intervention at the crossing, but “it is difficult to understand” the time that has already elapsed.

“A serious accident could happen. It is the safety of pedestrians that is at stake,” she warned.

According to Luís Nobre, if the operation “were the responsibility of the Chamber, the solution would have been found and implemented”.

“I already have difficulty explaining. I made a note publicly and privately that it was necessary to implement a definitive solution as quickly as possible”, he stressed.

Luís Nobre challenged Eduardo Teixeira, deputy elected by Chega in the Assembly of the Republic, to resolve the situation.

“There is an opportunity, in the Assembly of the Republic, to question the new Minister of Infrastructure”, he stated.

In October 2023, following a question from the CDU councilor, Cláudia Marinho, to the president of the municipality, IP revealed that it would implement, in 2024, the definitive solution to protect the catenary, after a conditional favorable opinion from the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage (DGPC).

IP EXPLAINS DELAY

In response, in writing, to a request for clarification from the Lusa agency, IP said that it was “reviewing the detail of fixing the acrylic panels” on the century-old bridge, since 2019, in the process of being classified as a National Monument, “in order to mitigate the visual impact of the solution to be installed, taking into account the opinion of the DGPC”.

IP planned to contract the execution of the new fences during 2024, “which will allow the removal of the temporary networks and the reopening of pedestrian circulation on the sidewalk on the upper road deck of the Eiffel Bridge existing on the railway side”.

According to the public company, the amount to be invested in this intervention has not been estimated.

The modernization of the Minho Line, which represented a total investment of 86 million euros, was co-financed with 68 million funds from the Compete 2020 program.

The electrification of the Nine – Viana do Castelo section, which was completed in July 2019, cost 16 million, and the electrification of the Viana do Castelo – Valença section, completed in 2021, cost 18 million euros.

The bridge is 645 meters long and is made up of two metal decks, the upper one being road, for car and pedestrian traffic, and the lower one being railway.

In 2020, the DGPC proposed classifying the metal bridge over the Lima River as a national monument, substantiating the decision with a favorable opinion issued by the Architectural and Archaeological Heritage section of the National Council of Culture.

The classification proposal was formalized by the Viana do Castelo Chamber in 2018.

Opened in 1878, the metal bridge over the Lima River, next to the São Lourenço chapel, in the parish of Darque.