Qasr al-Nil Bridge
| Qasr El Nil Bridge | |
|---|---|
View of the Qasr El Nil Bridge, with Gezira Island in the background.
|
|
| Coordinates | 30°02′37″N 31°13′46″E / 30.043747°N 31.229464°E |
| Carries | Tahrir Street |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | arch |
| Material | steel |
| Total length | 1 932 m |
| No. of spans | 7 |
| History | |
| Designer | Ralph Anthony Freeman |
| Engineering design by | Dorman, Long and Co. Ltd. |
| Construction start | 1931 |
| Construction end | 1933 |
| Construction cost | 308,000 EGP |
| Opened | June 6, 1933 |
| Replaces | El Gezira Bridge (1872) |
The Qasr El Nil Bridge (originally named Khedive Ismail Bridge), also commonly spelled Kasr El Nil Bridge, is a historic structure dating to 1931 and replaced the first bridge to span the Nile River in central Cairo, Egypt. It connects Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo to the modern Cairo Opera complex toward the southern end of Gezira Island. At the bridge's east and west approaches are four famous large stone lion statues; they are late 19th-century works by Henri Alfred Jacquemart, French sculptor and animalier. The newer and wider 6th October Bridge parallels its route 0.8 kilometres (0.50 mi) just to the north.
Qasr El Nil Street crosses over the Nile on the bridge, from the east bank area Tahrir Square—Liberation Square in Downtown Cairo, past the huge The Mogamma government building and the Headquarters of the Arab League, then onto the Qasr El Nil Bridge over the river to Gezira Island. There it meets Opera Square and the Cairo Opera House, with connections north to the Cairo Tower and the Zamalek district, and south across the island to the Tahrir Bridge across a smaller branch of the Nile to Tahrir Street in the Agouza district on the west bank.
The previous bridge on the site, El Gezira Bridge, was built between 1869 and 1871 by Linant de Bellefonds with the participation of France's Five-Lilles Company. The foundation stone for the present Qasr El Nil Bridge was laid by King Fuad I on February 4, 1931. After over two years of construction, undertaken by Dorman Long & Co. Ltd, King Fuad inaugurated the bridge's opening on June 6, 1933.
...
Wikipedia