Ĭonstruction began in February 1995 the bridge was opened to traffic on 29 March 1998, just in time for Expo 98, the World's Fair that celebrated the 500th anniversary of the discovery by Vasco da Gama of the sea route from Europe to India. It was built to alleviate the congestion on Lisbon's 25 de Abril Bridge, and eliminate the need for traffic between the country's northern and southern regions to pass through the capital city. It is the second longest bridge in Europe, after the Crimean Bridge, and the longest one in the European Union.

The Vasco da Gama Bridge ( Portuguese: Ponte Vasco da Gama pronounced ) is a cable-stayed bridge flanked by viaducts that spans the Tagus River in Parque das Nações in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Sacavém, north of Lisbon (right/north bank) The article details the design and construction of the bridge's most important elements. The design and construction were let to the Novaponte joint venture, and special emphasis was placed on the aesthetics of the bridge. The new crossing consists of: (1) the Sacavem and EN10 Interchanges in Lisbon (2) the 560m North Viaduct, of prestressed T-beam construction (3) the 672m Expo Viaduct, of glued segmental prestressed box-girder construction (4) the 830m cable-stayed Main Bridge across the Norte navigation channel (5) the 6531m Central Viaduct, with two 130m spans and many 80m spans (6) the 3635m South Viaduct, of prestressed T-Beam construction and (7) the 4672m southern access roads. The crossing covers 11km over water and 7km over land, and carries a dual three-lane highway, which will later become a dual four-lane road. The bridge was funded from various private sources. In April 1994, the Lusaponte consortium was awarded the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract for the new crossing, about 13km upstream.

In 1991, the Portuguese Government decided that this bridge was needed to relieve serious traffic congestion on the 25 April Bridge. This article reviews one of the world's largest civil engineering projects, the design and construction of the 18km Vasco da Gama Bridge over the River Tagus near Lisbon.

Ponte vasco da gama