Railways: lines, bridges, and tunnels

Until recently, relevant research has been done on the institutions and the few general contractors responsible for the construction of each of the first railway lines in Portugal during the period 1950-1880. The same applies to the main international contracts with foreign investors that were fundamental for the financial investment in this type of infrastructure. The construction periods, the extension of the lines, and the inauguration dates of the main railway stations are also rather well known.

Nevertheless, historical research relating national with foreign construction companies responsible for the execution of civil engineering works like bridges and tunnels where a high technological capital was needed, must still be done. 

The present exhibition guides the visitor to a selected number of railway lines and a chosen number of bridges and tunnels, relating their dimensional and structural characteristics with the company responsible for their execution. A certain number of bridges were executed in steel, others in masonry. Until 1870, the majority of the steel bridges were prefabricated in Belgium (B), France (F) and Germany (D) by companies as  Braine-le-Comte (B), Société de Willebroeck (B), Société Metallurgique de Nivelles (B), Sclessin (B), Gustave Eiffell & Cie. (F), Cail & Cie. (F), Fives-Lille (F), and Harkort (D). Foreign well-known engineers were involved in those projects like Gustave Eiffel and Theophile Seyrig. Other foreign companies became also responsible for the execution of the tunnels and earthworks like Duparchy, Daudernie or Bartissol.

In association with foreign specialized contractors in metallic structures and tunneling, the majority of masonry works like masonry arch bridges and viaducts, masonry foundations of metallic bridges, and masonry parts of steel-masonry hybrid bridges were done by Portuguese local construction companies. In this typology of works, important viaducts like the Durrães Viaduct in Minho Line. The exhibit will be completed with the biographical profiles of the individual actors mainly engineers responsible for the design, the execution, and the supervision of the works. This last group was mainly occupied by Portuguese engineers.

Map 1. Railway lines network in Portugal, 1895.