New bridge over the River Lima in Viana do Castelo enters the final phase

The new crossing over the River Lima has entered its final construction stage. Workers from several countries have nicknamed it "Viviana".

From the summer, it will be possible to cross the River Lima in Viana do Castelo by car, on foot or by bicycle using a new bridge. The link between National Road 203 in Deocriste and National Road 202 in Nogueira is now in its closing phase. The structure is already complete and is currently being painted grey. Work is still under way on items such as surfacing the pavements, fitting safety barriers and parapets, installing street lighting, and putting in telecommunications infrastructure.

Built in record time-around a year and a half-the project brought together workers of multiple nationalities, who gave it the name "Viviana". "Because we’re in Viana. When I arrived here, the beam was already the Viviana," says site director Artur Patrão from ACA Construction (Alberto Couto Alves), adding that the new crossing "will be ready in the summer".

The €20.2 million contract, funded through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), is tied to physical and financial delivery deadlines that run until 31 August this year.

A sign posted at the site entrance states that the aim of the bridge-set to become the fourth crossing over the Lima in the municipality-is to "strengthen resilience and territorial cohesion, by increasing the competitiveness of the productive fabric and enabling a reduction in context costs".

Space for everyone

"It’s very important infrastructure for Viana. It will remove a lot of heavy traffic, taking it straight to the motorway," said Artur Patrão as he led the JN reporting team along the deck. The bridge is 816 metres long and 10 metres wide for the carriageway, plus two pavements of 2.5 metres each-one on either side-designed for pedestrians and cyclists.

"What’s planned is a cycle lane and a pedestrian route, exactly the same. These pavements aren’t the usual kind. They’re 2.5 metres wide, which means they’re very robust and safe for people to use," he said.

The crossing is supported on 24 alignments, each made up of two piers, and in the deepest part of the river the piers measure 9.10 metres. It connects into two roundabouts and, including the access ramps, its total length reaches almost two kilometres.

The works were awarded in December 2024 and have already endured two winters and several storms. Artur Patrão says "around 60 thousand tonnes of earth" were used to create a firm base.

Major challenges

"To build the bridge, we made a temporary platform to the middle of the river. We narrowed the flow. After the platform was built, we started the indirect foundations. We made a cofferdam [a temporary enclosure built within water], with steel structures that wrap around the foundations and stop both earth and a large flow of water getting inside. We pump out the water and the men are inside working safely, in the dry," he explained, summing up that in that section "it was as if the river didn’t exist".

From there, the foundations were formed, which then allowed the entire structure to be raised step by step, using beams and piers. Erecting it required thousands of tonnes of concrete and steel. The site director sets out the figures: "Each deck section-there are 24-takes 350 m3 of concrete. If we multiply by 24, in concrete alone we’re talking about 8400 m3 of concrete (around 21 thousand tonnes)."

According to Artur Patrão, one of the biggest difficulties was having to adapt the construction method because of a medium- and high-voltage power line on the left bank of the river.

A launching girder was brought in from Poland and is already being dismantled so it can be sent on to Lithuania. "It was a blue steel structure that underneath, where we were, formed the shape of the deck; it closed, we assembled the steel, poured the concrete, it opened and moved forward [to repeat the process]," he said, noting: "I’d never built a bridge using this system." Once the deck reached the halfway point, the land platform was removed and moved to the other half of the river.

A boost for businesses

Luís Nobre, the Mayor, believes the new bridge-together with the new Neiva valley road, also under construction-"is strategic infrastructure to improve the connection between the two banks of the Lima and strengthen the municipality’s territorial cohesion". He also describes it as "a communication route for the new business parks in Nogueira and Cardielos and for DS Smith [packaging factory] in Deocriste, which will then have access to the main routes and to the seaport". In his view, it is "fundamental for economic development and mobility in the municipality’s rural area".

"When we pass through Gaia they say it’s Dad’s bridge"

Artur Patrão, 39, a civil engineer from Santa Maria da Feira and the site director for the new bridge, has already been "boss" on the construction of several crossings and, according to his team, "finishes projects ahead of schedule". "I worked on the Santo Ovídeo viaduct in Gaia, that white metal viaduct, and then on the bypass in Celorico de Basto, which had a bridge over a river and several viaducts. And before working in Portugal, I spent seven years in Angola and there I did a bridge rehabilitation and a new one as well," he said. "It’s what I most like doing," he admits.

He says he caught "the bug" while working on building sites in his village during the summer. "When I went to university, it was just a matter of continuing," he explains. He also says he feels a sense of "belonging" and enjoys crossing bridges with his family: "I have two small children, Afonso, who is nine, and Anita, who is about to turn six, and when we pass through Gaia, they say it’s Dad’s bridge".

Workers

• 90 is the average number of workers involved in finishing the project. During the works, the figure was around 70.
• Several nationalities: Portuguese, Brazilians, Indians and Africans from various backgrounds built the new bridge. "It’s what has saved the workforce a bit. There are fewer and fewer Portuguese," said Artur Patrão.
• Communicating with gestures: Patrão highlights the "difficulty of communication" with the Indian workers. "They don’t speak English, they don’t speak Portuguese or they speak it very poorly, and we don’t speak Indian. We communicate with gestures. Even though there’s always one who communicates better, it’s always a barrier."

Find out more

• Rare machine: A "Bridge by Bridge" machine, which makes it possible to work underneath the bridge, was used to repair imperfections in the concrete structure before painting. "Either we brought a boat and put structures on it, or we used this kind of equipment, which is rare."
• Expands in summer: To prevent the impacts of thermal expansion in the materials-naturally caused by temperature changes-two 25-centimetre expansion joints were installed, one at each end. "They allow the bridge to expand and the deck to move without people feeling it," Artur Patrão explained.

15 metres is the width of the bridge deck, including the routes for road traffic, pedestrians and bicycles.

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