Porto Metro Crossing the Upper Deck
Captured from the Douro River during a Six Bridges cruise, this view shows a Porto Metro train crossing the upper deck of the Dom Luís I Bridge, directly above the imposing arched iron trusswork rising between the lower and upper decks.
Designed by Théophile Seyrig, a former associate of Gustave Eiffel, and completed in 1886, the Dom Luís I Bridge was built with two decks to connect different elevations on the steep banks of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. The lower deck carries vehicular and pedestrian traffic close to the river, while the upper deck is now used by Porto’s Metro and pedestrians.
The Porto Metro began using the upper deck in 2005, nearly 120 years after the bridge was completed. A modern Metro train using a 19th-century iron bridge to meet the transportation needs of a city is an excellent example of the adaptability and durability of its engineering.
Seen beneath the great iron arch in the distance is the Ponte do Infante D. Henrique, completed in 2003. Its slender concrete arch provides an interesting contrast with the intricate iron trusswork of the Dom Luís I Bridge, representing two very different periods of bridge engineering across the Douro.
Dom Luís I Bridge Pages
– Dom Luís I Bridge: Full-Span View from the Douro River
– Dom Luís I Bridge: Porto Entrance to the Lower Deck
– Dom Luís I Bridge: A Bird’s-Eye View from Porto Cathedral Belfry
– Dom Luís I Bridge: A Bird’s-Eye View from Vila Nova de Gaia
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