# Pocinho Bridge

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The **Road-rail bridge of Pocinho**, commonly known as **Pocinho Bridge**, is a [road-rail bridge](/source/Road-rail_bridge) in [Vila Nova de Foz Côa](/source/Vila_Nova_de_Foz_C%C3%B4a), [Portugal](/source/Portugal). The structure was part of the now defunct rail network [Sabor line](/source/Sabor_line), and is now closed to both types of transit.

## Construction

In the turn of the 19th century, the necessity of a new bridge above the [Douro](/source/Douro) connecting the Estrada Real number 9 between the parishes of [Pocinho](/source/Pocinho) and [Miranda](/source/Miranda_do_Douro_(parish)), in the [Bragança District](/source/Bragan%C3%A7a_District), arose. The two [public tenders](/source/Public_tenders) opened by the Portuguese Government in July 1901 and May 1902 were not successful,[1] so the Government authorized its railway department, [Caminhos de Ferro do Estado](/source/Caminhos_de_Ferro_do_Estado), to negotiate the project with Empresa Industrial Portuguesa.[1][2] Construction started in 1903 and the bridge was opened to the public on 4 July 1909.[3] The upper board of the bridge was [opened to exploration](/source/Rail_freight_transport) as part of the railway [Sabor line](/source/Sabor_line) on 1911.[4]

The bridge consists of two decks: an upper deck for railway use and a lower deck for road use which was connected to [Estrada Real](/source/Estrada_Real) 9. The bridge has three central spans of 54m and two outer spans of 45m.[5]

## Decline and closure

The railway line was closed in 1988.[6] In 2001, car traffic was closed in the lower board of the bridge due to the existence of an alternative to the crossing using the [Pocinho Dam](/source/Pocinho_Dam), close to the centenary bridge.[7] In 2009, the municipalities of [Torre de Moncorvo](/source/Torre_de_Moncorvo) and [Vila Nova de Foz Côa](/source/Vila_Nova_de_Foz_C%C3%B4a) filed a request for the bridge to be classified as a heritage structure due to its history, tourism value, and as an access point for the neighboring Sabor eco-path.[8]

## See also

- [List of bridges in Portugal](/source/List_of_bridges_in_Portugal)

## References

1. Ministério das Obras Públicas, Comércio e Indústria (16 March 1903). ["Caminhos de ferro do Estado"](https://hemerotecadigital.cm-lisboa.pt/OBRAS/GazetaCF/1903/N366/N366_master/GazetaCFN366.pdf) (in Portuguese). *Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro*. pp. 83–84.

1. d’Abreu, Carlos & Abreu Vale, Jorge (24 November 2018). ["Ponte Do Pocinho. Monumento Da Arqueologia Industrial Do Douro Transmontano Registado Pela Objectiva De Jorge Abreu Vale"](https://museudamemoriarural.pt/revistamemoriarural/index.php/revista/article/view/21/18) (in Portuguese). *Revista Memória Rural*. **1**: 118. C.

1. Pinto, Francisco (7 January 2009). ["Câmaras pedem classificação da ponte do Pocinho"](https://www.jn.pt/local/noticias/braganca/torre-de-moncorvo/camaras-pedem-classificacao-da-ponte-do-pocinho-1067855.html) (in Portuguese). *[Jornal de Notícias](/source/Jornal_de_Not%C3%ADcias)*

1. ["Troços de linhas férreas portuguesas abertas à exloração desde 1956, e sua extensão"](https://hemerotecadigital.cm-lisboa.pt/OBRAS/GazetaCF/1956/N1652/N1652_master/GazetaCFN1652.pdf) (in Portuguese). *Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro*. 16 October 1956. p. 529.

1. ["Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro"](https://hemerotecadigital.cm-lisboa.pt/OBRAS/GazetaCF/1903/N371/N371_master/GazetaCFN371.pdf). *Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro*. **16**: 196. June 1, 1903.

1. Noé, Paula (2010). ["Ponte Ferroviária e Rodoviária do Pocinho (IPA.00024173)"](http://www.monumentos.gov.pt/Site/APP_PagesUser/SIPA.aspx?id=24173) (in Portuguese). SIPA (ed.). Lisbon, Portugal: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico. Retrieved 5 May 2020.

1. ["Ponte do Pocinho vai ser encerrada como precaução"](https://www.publico.pt/2001/03/16/local/noticia/ponte-do-pocinho-vai-ser-encerrada-como-precaucao-15139) (in Portuguese). *[Público](/source/P%C3%BAblico_(Portugal))*. 16 March 2001.

1. ["Ponte do Pocinho em vias de classificação"](https://www.jornalnordeste.com/noticia/ponte-do-pocinho-em-vias-de-classificacao) (in pt-pt). *www.jornalnordeste.com*. Retrieved 2025-06-18.

## Sources

- Machado, Carlos Alberto d'Abreu Ferreira (2011). *La vertebración del territorio ibérico de la raya duriense y las vías de transporte: éxitos y fracasos* (PhD) (in Portuguese). [University of Salamanca](/source/University_of_Salamanca). [doi:10.14201/gredos.115563](https://doi.org/10.14201/gredos.115563). [hdl:10366/115563](https://hdl.handle.net/10366/115563)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pocinho Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocinho_Bridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocinho_Bridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.