Douro Rail Bridge

The brief

A new high-speed line needed a 1.4 km crossing of the Douro river near Porto, with long arches that sit lightly in a protected landscape. The client wanted a bridge that would never need painting.

What we supplied

We supplied 31,000 tonnes of weathering-steel beams. The steel forms its own dense, rust-coloured layer that protects it for the bridge’s 120-year design life, so there is no paint to renew and nothing to wash into the river.

How we delivered it

Beams were rolled in Luleå and carried on our own trains to Narvik, then shipped to Leixões, the port of Porto. Each arch section arrived in the order it was erected, cutting site storage to a few days.

The result

Trains crossed the bridge for the first time in 2024. The arches have already turned the deep brown the architects designed for, and the bridge was shortlisted for a European steel design award.