Puente colgante de Santa Fe, Suspension bridge in Santa Fe, Argentina

The Ingeniero Marcial Candioti Bridge, known as the Puente Colgante de Santa Fe, is a steel suspension bridge over the Setúbal lagoon, linking its west and east shores. Two towers of rectangular columns braced with X-shaped diagonals carry thick diagonal cables with vertical suspender rods. The deck has a balustrade of upright metal bars above large cylindrical pipes running lengthwise.

The bridge opened on 8 June 1928, built to carry both traffic and water pipes from Colastiné. On 28 September 1983, after months of flooding, its east tower collapsed and half the structure fell into the Setúbal lagoon. The recovered parts were later sold for scrap, and the bridge was not rebuilt until twenty years later.

The bridge is a meeting point for celebrations, social gatherings and festivities in Santa Fe, and it has inspired poets, artists, photographers and documentaries. It is named after engineer Marcial Candioti, who headed Obras Sanitarias de la Nación when the project was approved in 1922.

The bridge carries both vehicles and pedestrians between the western and eastern costaneras of the Setúbal lagoon, a short distance from the Oroño Viaduct. Walk the deck on foot to see the X-braced towers and the cylindrical pipes beneath the balustrade. Cross on foot rather than by car to take in the structure.

The bridge was conceived to carry water: a 40 cm pipe from Colastiné ran beneath the roadway, and the structure was designed to withstand floods and floating camalotes. After the 1983 collapse, recovered parts were stored at the city port and later sold for scrap, a scandal tied to Governor José María Vernet's administration.