Edgar Cardoso Bridge, Cable-stayed road bridge in Figueira da Foz, Portugal
The Edgar Cardoso Bridge is a cable-stayed road bridge over the Mondego, 1,421 m long overall, with a 405 m cable-stayed section. Its two 85 m concrete pylons are formed by pairs of rectangular shafts leaning together to a common tip, tied by a crossbeam; cables fan from the tips to a 2 m deep steel truss deck with a thin reinforced concrete slab. The deck crosses the river about 40 m above the water.
Designed by engineer Edgar Cardoso and opened in 1982 after four years of construction, it was Portugal's first cable-stayed bridge, built for 1.5 billion escudos. It replaced a low 1907 iron bridge with 16 piers that stood nearer the station and restricted the freight harbour. A 14-million-euro renovation by Soares da Costa, finished on 28 July 2005, gave it its present name.
Locals still call it Ponte da Figueira da Foz, the name it bore until 28 July 2005, when a two-year rehabilitation ended and it was renamed after its designer, who had died in 2000. Edgar Cardoso also built Porto's Ponte da Arrábida. The bridge replaced a low 1907 iron bridge with 16 piers and one lane each way, demolished after the new span opened.
The deck carries two lanes in each direction, separated by a central guardrail, with 2 m wide walkways on both sides for pedestrians. The northern ramp climbs straight toward the bridge, while the southern ramp curves in a long arc with a maximum gradient of 5%. The bridge is part of the N109 national road.
The deck is a 2 m deep steel truss carrying a thin reinforced-concrete slab, with cables anchored in bundles at the pylon tips and fixed to the deck every 30 m. The central section between expansion joints rests on the cable-supported ends as a separate element. The four pylons are joined below the deck by a concrete frame just above the water.
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