This has been built on the river Tagus, close to Portugal’s capital – Lisbon. The traffic was heavy here and people were suffering from traveling from one place to another one.

The length of the Vasco da Gama Bridge is about 17 kilometers and it is the 9th longest bridge in the world. It took only about three years to complete the bridge. Cable-stayed and viaducts technologies have been used to construct this bridge. Normally, it would take about twenty minutes to cross the bridge and it would surely be a pleasant experience for all the travellers.

The bridge was opened to public service in 1998 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the invention of the route from Europe to India. By the way, Vasco da Gama was one of the most successful Portuguese explorer and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India.

Special aspect of this bridge is that it has been built within 18 months with over three thousand workers and should survive for at least 120 years. A 40 years long contract has been given to a private company to take care of the cost so the government didn’t have to spend money for the project. Though only six lanes are available at present, there is enough space to convert it into eight lanes bridge, when it is required.

If you are Technical Monuments lover, and already visited Paris with Eiffel Tower, now you should go more to the south and try driving across this technical gem.

View Vasco da Gama Bridge – the longest bridge in Europe Portugal in a larger map

The post Vasco da Gama Bridge – the longest bridge in Europe | Portugal appeared first on Europe Explored.

Most impressive and largest aqueduct at that time was undoubtedly the Pont du Gard in Provence, in southern France. It dates from Roman times – was built 2000 years ago. It is not only beneficial structure, but also an architectural gem. It can certainly be called wonder of the ancient world. This building has been preserved almost in working conditions until today.

Aqueduct transferred water from the Eure spring to the wells in Nimes (48 km). Noteworthy is that the height difference between spring and wells is only 17 m, which proves truly outstanding calculations of the whole system.

A part of the aqueduct is a huge, three-storey bridge over the river Gard, which is also the most interesting part. The bridge is 275 meters long, 49 meters high and at the highest part it is 3 meters wide. It consists of three rows of arches – the arcades. Blocks of stone are embedded into each other with millimeter accuracy while no fasteners were used.

At the time of the Roman Empire the city of Nimes had approximately 50 000 inhabitants. Aqueduct was able to supply about 400 liters of water daily for each person.

The bridge is now a major tourist attraction and one of the most visited monuments in France with more than 2 million tourists per year. In 1985 it was included in UNESCO World Heritage Site.

You can even stay in camping which is situated right bellow the Aqueduct.

View Aqueduct Pont du Gard – ancient Roman aqueduct bridge in Provence, France in a larger map

The post Aqueduct Pont du Gard – ancient Roman aqueduct bridge in Provence, France appeared first on Europe Explored.