The Vizcaya Bridge is a toll ferry bridge, conceived, designed and built by private initiative between 1887 and 1893, which joins the two banks of the Bilbao estuary in Vizcaya.
It was inaugurated on July 28, 1893, being the first of its type in the world and one of the eight that are still preserved.
The name that appears on its official website is "Puente Bizkaia", although its most popular and widespread name is "Hanging Bridge" to which the extensions "de Portugalete", "de Las Arenas" or even "from Bilbao". It is also often called "Puente de Portugalete", since it originally linked Portugalete with Las arenas de Portugalete (both banks were considered to be from the same municipality), and "Puente Palacio", in honor of its architect, Alberto de Palacio y Elissague.
The bridge connects the town of Portugalete with the Las Arenas neighborhood, which belongs to the municipality of Guecho, as well as the two banks of the Bilbao estuary.
Its construction was due to the need to unite the existing spas on both banks of the estuary, destined for the industrial bourgeoisie and tourists from the late 19th century.
Both in the design process of the bridge, as in its construction, the French engineer and businessman Ferdinand Arnodin intervened, an expert both in the manufacture of cables and in the construction and repair of suspension bridges. Arnodin is the author of the Rochefort ferry bridge, in France, whose profile is very similar, indeed, to that of Vizcaya.
The construction of the bridge, which took place between 1890 and 1893, was not without problems and dissensions between the Palace and Arnodin, which led to the continuous mediation of the renowned French engineer A. Brüll, who had been president of the Society of Civil Engineers from France.