This issue reminds us that bridges, besides their utilitarian function of connecting two places, can also be elegant sculptures.

The Friendship Bridge (Ponte da Amizade) is called that way because it connects Vila Nova de Cerveira in Portugal to Goián in Spain. The Arrábida Bridge had at the time of its construction the largest concrete span in the world (270m wide, 25m tall). The Arrábida and Mosteirô bridges were both designed by the engineer Edgar Cardoso. The original metallic Mosteirô bridge (concluded in 1894, blown up in 1919 during the monarchic upheaval in the North of Portugal, and rebuilt in 1926) had to be replaced by the current one due to the rise of the water of the Douro after the Carrapatelo Dam was built. It is not known who dynamited the original bridge, with Republicans and Monarchists accusing each other.

The April 25th Bridge (Ponte 25 de Abril) is named after the Carnation Revolution in 1974; before then it was named Salazar Bridge. For almost two decades, first as a student then as a lecturer, I crossed it twice every working day, on my way from Lisbon to university and back. The miniature sheet gives you an idea of the spectacle I enjoyed in the Spring and Summer months. Entering Lisbon ‘from above’, seeing the city bathed in the late afternoon golden light and beneath a dark blue sky, was the perfect way to end a working day.

We have crossed the Arade bridge quite a few times, on our holidays in the Algarve, and it’s quite a nice view, untouched nature when looking North, and the river flowing into Portimão when looking South.

The stamps were designed by Túlio Coelho / Atelier Acácio Santos, lithographed by the Mint on enamelled paper sheets of 5×10 stamps with perforation 12×11¾, and were issued on 16 October 2008.

Value	Print run	Afinsa	Gibbons	Michel	Scott	WNS	Yvert
0.31	280,000	3782		3363		PT112.08
0.47	230,000	3783		3364		PT113.08
0.57	230,000	3784		3365		PT114.08
0.67	230,000	3785		3366		PT115.08
0.80	200,000	3786		3367		PT116.08
1.00	230,000	3787		3368		PT117.08
Lisbon MS	60,000	388		276		PT118.08
Porto MS	60,000	389		277		PT119.08

Additional sources:

• Historian Nuno Resende, personal communication on the Mosteirô bridge, 14 May 2011.

Related posts:

1. Iberic Bridges
2. Lisbon Transport
3. World Heritage Site: Porto

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