Link People walk across a narrow footbridge suspended across a river canyon, which claims to be the world’s longest pedestrian bridge, in Arouca, northern Portugal.
Photo: AP
Arouca lies 300 kilometres north of Lisbon, the Portuguese capital.
Local residents got a first walk on the bridge last week. Many were thrilled even as some admitted it was a little unnerving to feel so high up and exposed.
Hugo Xavier became one of the first people to cross the suspension bridge. You will now receive updates from Traveller Newsletter
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The World s Largest Pedestrian Bridge Opens In Portugal archinect.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archinect.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge has opened to the public.
The 516 Arouca bridge in the Aveiro district of Portugal was officially unveiled over the weekend, after months of delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stretching 516m, the bridge surpasses the 494m-long Charles Kuonen bridge in the Swiss Alps to become the world’s longest pedestrian bridge of its kind.
The bridge deck is 1.2m wide and the structure also has a central span of 480m. The bridge itself is located 175m above the Paiva River.
Designed by Portuguese architects Itecons the bridge was constructed by Portuguese contractor Conduril. In total, the bridge cost €2.3M (£2M) and took three years to build.
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The Arouca Geopark in northern Portugal is about as breathtaking a landscape as you can imagine. You’d struggle not to feel at least a tinge of vertigo in these hilly, rocky, densely forested parts.
But a new attraction that straddles the Paiva River valley will offer an even more bracing perspective on those ridiculously epic (and Unesco-protected) surroundings. The 516-metre-long Arouca bridge, which opened this week, is now the world’s longest pedestrian bridge – and gridded floors and railings mean you can take in the views from all sides.
Photograph: 516 Arouca
The bridge comprises a steel main structure, supported by two V-shaped concrete towers. It rises 175 metres above the valley, a popular site for outdoor activities like whitewater rafting and kayaking. A ticket to the bridge (€12 for adults, €10 for children and over-65s) also gets you access to the Passadiços do Paiva: a eight-kilometre-long network of wooden pathways that wind through th