An IP source confirmed to Lusa the reopening date of the crossing after the bridge rehabilitation works, which began in October 2021.

In October 2021, IP announced that the bridge designed by Théophile Seyrig, collaborator of Gustave Eiffel, opened in 1886, would be subject to rehabilitation works lasting about a year.

However, in September of last year, IP admitted that the execution of the work would be delayed until March of this year, a deadline that also ended up slipping by two weeks.

Joana Moita, told Lusa, on March 15, the delays were due to the discovery of more problems in the structure of the bridge compared to those initially foreseen.

"Only after stripping the paint here on the bridge were we able to verify that there were more anomalies than we were counting on, and that were foreseen in the project", she explained.

The cost of the work, initially estimated at 3.3 million euros, ended up at 4.2 million euros, both due to the more complex intervention than expected, but also due to the crisis of raw materials, linked to the war in Ukraine, according to the same official.

The official estimated that the intervention will last so that a new one is not needed for "at least 30 years or more".