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Vizcaya Bridge
The Vizcaya Bridge was inaugurated in 1893 and is the first transporter bridge in the world. The structure is 45 metres high and 160 metres long. It was designed by Alberto de Palacio who was born in vizcaya and was a follower and helper of Gustave Eiffel. The Bridge is similar to the Eiffel Tower. It conects Getxo and Portugalete at each side of the estuary.

History
The Vizcaya Bridge, was built to conect the two banks which are situated at the mouth of the Nervion river. It was constructed by Alberto Palacio and Elissague and Engineer Ferdinand Joseph Arnodin was in charge. The main financer of the project was Santos Lopez de Letona. It is the first shuttle bridge ever built. Alberto Palacio´s wanted to design a bridge which could transport passengers and cargo, and that could allow ships to go through. The design of the Palacio Shuttle bridge was adequate and could be built with a reasonable price.

Construction
In the final design, they decided to use two horizontal girders to support the rails, and that were supported by four pillars which stand on four towers which are situated at the quays of the banks. It was made of Iron which represents the Industrial Revolution because it was used to produce many different things. Much iron was extracted from the mines of Vyzcaya, which increased the mining, shipping industrustry. Therefore, the Vizcaya Bridge, also represents growth and triumph of a new era.

Universal Heritage
On the 13th of July 2006, the Vizcaya hanging bridge was named a World Heritage Site in vinius, Lithuania. It is the only Basque monument which is part of it. Also,in Spain, it is the only monumnet in the Industrial Heritage category. The UNESCO, considers the bridge to be a perfect combination of beauty and functionality. It was the first to use a comnination of iron technology and new steel cables which later began a new form of constructing bridges which was later imitated throughout the world. There is a 160m. long crossbeam which conects the towers and is 45m. above the hich tide level of sea. It is put together by iron pieces that are conected by red hot rivets. To support the structure, it has 4 iron support cables on each side and are held bu blocks, 110m. away from the tower.

Arquitecture
The structure is made of four 61 metre towers which are the pillars and lay on the river banks. The towers, is braced by iron cables to the crossbeam and are paralell to the river. The upper crossbeam which lays horizontally, rests between two towers by 70 suspension cables. They also help support a great amount of weight and are supported in the corbels which helps balance the weight. The gondola transports vehicles and they hang from a 36 wheeled caty and is 25m. long. It moves along the rails through the horizontal crossbeam.

References:
SP00166M, 2006. Portugalete. Available at: http://turismo.euskadi.net/x65-12375/es/contenidos/d_destinos_turisticos/0000011294_d2_rec_turismo/es_11294/11294-ficha2.html [Accessed March 24, 2013].
 * Anon, Basque Country´s Tourism Website | Tourism Euskadi. Available at: http://tourism.euskadi.net/x65-18805/en/ [Accessed March 25, 2013a].
 * Anon, History - Puente Colgante de Portugalete. Available at: http://www.puente-colgante.com/index.php/en/puente-vizcaya-2/history.html [Accessed March 24, 2013b].
 * Anon, La guerra civil - Puente Colgante de Portugalete. Available at: http://www.puente-colgante.com/index.php/es/la-guerra-civil.html [Accessed March 24, 2013c].
 * Anon, Portugalete Transporter Bridge (Portugalete, 1893) | Structurae. Available at: http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0002348 [Accessed March 25, 2013d].
 * Anon, Vizcaya Bridge - UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Available at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1217 [Accessed March 25, 2013e].