As of last night, the lighting of the new Tavira bridge was switched on and from today, Tuesday 30th March, "all Tavirans will be able to enjoy this infrastructure" siad the Câmara of Tavira.
"The delay in the certification and contracting processes for electricity, which were dependent on external entities, affected its opening", claimed the municipality.
In December 2019, a manifest had been presented at the Municipal Assembly where a group of 24 architects, including Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto Moura, requested the Tavira Câmara to rethink the project for the new bridge in the historic center of City.
In the document, the architects appealed to the municipality to have the "courage" to "take a step back" and to stop "to reflect in favour of defining a comprehensive urban intervention strategy" for the riverfront.
However, the Câmara de Tavira maintained its opinion on the need for the existence of a bridge at the defined location, arguing that it would be “in perfect harmony with the heritage and landscape”.
For the autarchy, the city “will not be harmed in any way by this new crossing” on the contrary, it will benefit and enhance the noble area of the city”.
At the time, in November 2019, the citizen movement 'Tavira Semper' publicized its intention to halt the construction of the new bridge in the city, arguing that it was a solution that would go “against the will of the population”.
The new bridge over the Gilão River replaces the previous temporary bridge. This was built in the wake of the 1989 floods to bridge the damage caused by the old bridge over the Gilão River, and ended up being active for 30 years, but has been closed to traffic for more than four years for safety reasons.
Original article available in Portuguese at http://postal.pt/
