Neuquén-Cipolletti bridges

The Neuquén-Cipolletti bridges are a series of four bridges that connect the cities of Neuquén and Cipolletti by spanning the Neuquén River, in Argentina. Three parallel ones, two road bridges and a railway bridge, were built on a former herd wrangling path. The fourth one was built upstream.

By 1899 the expansion of the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway reached the station that later would become Cipolletti. To continue to the Neuquén Territory, a steel railway bridge was constructed in 1899–1902 to cross the Neuquén River. After the railroad connected Neuquén Station on the Confluencia settlement, the capital of the Territory was moved to the area, and the city of Neuquén founded in 1904.

Vehicular and pedestrian crossings of the river were made using boats and canoes at that time. By the 1930s, the service was overwhelmed by the growing population. The construction of a road bridge started in 1935, and the bridge opened in 1937. A second road bridge opened in 1997 to alleviate traffic congestion, while the third one is scheduled to open in 2015.

In 1896, due to territorial disputes with Chile, the Argentinian Government commissioned the British-owned company Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway (Spanish: Ferrocarril Sud) to expand the existing railroad tracks from the city of Bahía Blanca, in the Buenos Aires Province, to the Neuquén National Territory. The expansion of the railroad was aimed at facilitating the quick transport of troops and supplies to the Chilean border in case of war. By that time, the capital of the Neuquén National Territory was located in the city of Chos Malal. The journey between the city of Buenos Aires and the capital of the Territory lasted fifteen days, while the mail service arrived once a month.

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