Hello I’m a tourist and have a question about Vasca da Gama bridge. Yesterday I crossed the bridge by car and noticed along the route the road goes up and then back down creating an arch and I can’t figure why that would be
Hello I’m a tourist and have a question about Vasca da Gama bridge. Yesterday I crossed the bridge by car and noticed along the route the road goes up and then back down creating an arch and I can’t figure why that would be
34 comments
To make room for a boat that might want to pass under the bridge
It’s for those that feel like getting some air time.
It’s more fun. It’s so expensive to cross it that they need to make it a ride.
Quando Portugal conquistou metade do mundo por via marítima apanhou vários monstros, como o do cabo das tormentas. Pegou-se neles e agora vivem no Tejo. Isso é para eles passarem e irem assustar os espanhóis que entram nas nossas águas.
Por curiosidade a alimentação deles é turistas curiosos.
Isto são factos!!!
It’s purely aesthetic, and it’s supposed to be an ocean wave. This bridge was done under the thematic scene of Expo 98 which was heavily influenced by the ocean and Age of Sail discoveries, so that’s what the bridge is as well.
Edit: I stand corrected.
Yeah that looks like a feature that makes room for big boats to pass under… but not sure tho. it would be nice to have some sources. Also, I have no idea why the bridge has this L shape…
To prevent drag racing
A lomba está no canal de navegação
Because people would think the earth is flat
Someone messed up the calculations and it came out wavy. Very common here in Portugal.
So… nobody will mention “Vasca”? It’s Vasco da Gama, as in, the explorer.
As for the construction detail: https://www.lusoponte.pt/vasco-da-gama/projecto/tracado-e-construcao
O tabuleiro está a cerca de 14 metros acima do nível da água na maior parte do comprimento deste viaduto, mas eleva-se até aos 30 metros sobre os dois canais navegáveis, a Cala das Barcas e a Cala de Samora, cujos vãos de 130 m permitem a passagem de navios de médio porte.
“the deck is about 14 meters above the water level for most of the length of this viaduct, but it rises up to 30 meters over the two navigable channels, Cala das Barcas and Cala de Samora, whose spans of 130 m allow the passage of medium-sized ships”
The bump you’re referring to is over Cala de Samora
This was made this way to give an extra thrill to street racing.
It’s a thermal expansion joint… It was really hot when they took this picture.
To give you a serious answer: it’s a navigation canal called “Cala de Samora”.
Together with the “Cala do Norte” in the foreground of the photo, they allow for the passage of medium-sized ships.
Pillars there are not only higher, but also wider and reinforced against possible ship impacts.
Edit: corrected the names of the canals.
Do you know boats?
There used to be a loop. If you drove along the bridge fast enough, you could do the complete vertical loop. But after a couple of near-fatal accidents it was removed about 10 years ago and the hump is all that remains.
have you heard of boats?
Boats
Its for lil kids say”weeee” while crossing it
There are two shipping lanes in that part of the river, on rivers they are named “canals”, the elevation has to do with that, for boats up to a certain height to pass under it.
On this map you can see both lanes: https://imgur.com/a/wWljbXc
É uma lomba para os carros na ponte reduzirem a velocidade.
For aqua man to pass 🐸
Its the worlds biggest speed bump
It’s the traditional Portuguese roller coaster, as you can see we takerizi.
The real reason was to beat the Guinness record of the biggest feijoada ever cooked. They curved the bridge so that we could assemble more tables and get more people to eat. In the end they only use one bottle of Fairy to clean everything. This was our biggest accomplishment in the 90s
Enquanto não lhe fizeram uma rotunda no meio estamos com muita sorte
a inteligência Humana ou falta dela surpreende-me….
you never saw a tall ship?
Real real answer: It was to make it into the Guinness World Record with a [Mega-Feijoada](https://arquivos.rtp.pt/conteudos/mega-feijoada/)
Boats
Thank you all for the answers! And sorry for the typo in “Vasca” instead of “Vasco”. And yes I know what boats are, I just wanted to be sure.
Basically, they had too much bridge. So when they laid it out, it didn’t fit. So they had to squish it a bit in the middle so if started and ended on the right part of the bank.
Boats
A justificação oficial:
Para os Cups conseguirem terem mais 10km/h de ponta e passarem os Civics no cone.