This is my photographic record of Bridge Luiz I

The construction emerged from the need of create conditions to trade growth in the second half of the XIX century.
More and more people were moving between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia towards Lisbon, and the old suspension bridge that existed there by that time no longer allowed the increasing flow.
This metallic colossus of 3045 tons that connects Porto to Vila Nova de Gaia over Douro River was built between 1881 and 1888.

In 1879 the open tender for the construction was determined, to which companies such as Société de Braine Leconte, Société de Batignolles, G. Eiffel et Cie, among others, competed.
Many have fallen by the wayside because their projects did not include the construction of two trays as required in the competition, among them G. Eiffel et Cie by Gustave Eiffel.

Many people think that this bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel because of its architectural similarity to the Eiffel Tower.
Who actually won the competition and designed the bridge was the Belgian company Société de Willebroeck by the hand of Teófilo Seyrig, partner of Gustave Eiffel, who signs the work as solely responsible.

According to an undocumented story, at the time of its inauguration in 1886, the name of the bridge would be D.Luiz I, in honor of King Dom Luiz I, who would have missed the inauguration and of course, as the people in Northern Portugal do not enjoy disrespectful attitudes, decided to remove the "D" from the name as moral retaliation ...
But none of this is documented.

@aleister