Situated in the Aveiro district of Portugal, the ‘516 Arouca’ bridge is the world’s longest pedestrian suspended bridge. With a length of 516m and a suspension of 175m, it has surpassed the former record-holder, the 494m Charles Kuonen bridge in the Swiss Alps.
516 Arouca is 516 metres long. 516 Arouca
The world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge opened in Portugal in early May. According to a press release by UNESCO's Arouca World Geopark, it is bound to give even the bravest of adventurers a rush of adrenaline.
Stretching across the UNESCO-recognised Arouca Geopark, an area famous for its nature tourism and outdoor activities, the steel construction designed by Studio Itecons, connects the banks of the Paiva river, a popular destination for kayaking and whitewater rafting. It is also located near the Paiva walkways, a wooden pathway that winds through 8km of the natural landscape.
516 Arouca
Constructed by a company called Conduril, it cost about €2.3 million. The bridge takes shape as a steel structure, supported by two V-shaped concrete towers.
Its floor and side railings are made of metal grids, offering unobstructed views of the verdant mountains and the rocky gorge. The bridge reportedly takes about 10 minutes to cross and according to its official website, it is "not for the faint of heart".
516 Arouca
A 'frighteningly beautiful' tourism project
The people of Arouca now hope it will bring tourism to the region that will revive the economy. "It is a breath of fresh air for our land because it will attract more investment, more people," tour guide Emanuel said to Reuters. "It will bring a new dynamic to Arouca."
The sentiment was repeated by Arouca's mayor Margarida Belem who expressed a great amount of pride in the bridge in a recent press release. He stated that the bridge "is an essential tourist infrastructure to reinforce the tourist attractiveness of the municipality and its position in the nature tourism market”.
516 Arouca
"Going through it will certainly be a remarkable and memorable experience," Belem guaranteed. "For those who have already done the Walkways, the bridge will be an excellent reason to return. Those who have not yet had the opportunity to travel, now have an additional reason to do so."
The new bridge has now overtaken Switzerland's 494-metre Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge as the world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge.
Suspension bridges have a long history as they are some of the first bridges ever built by man. They were first engineered with vines and were needless to say quite unstable. The eighth century saw the arrival of Chinese bridges constructed by laying planks between pairs of iron chains.
However, it wasn't until 1808 that the modern suspension bridge was created when an American named James Finley patented a system for suspending a rigid deck from a bridge's cables. This system now provides the foundation on which even the greatest record-breaking bridges are built.