The Fichier Bridge Portomarin Spain

[NewLife2015]

Does anyone know the length of the The Fichier Bridge Portomarin Spain? Also what is it like in summer...meaning can you see the Roman Bridge as well as the water below, and just how far is the drop.
How old is it?

I have a bridge nut friend who is curious.
Thnks

 

[Mark Lee]

The dam on the river was constructed in the 1960's. I'm assuming the bridge was built to accommodate higher water levels due to that.

 

[Keith Hearn]

Here's a photo of them both at a time of low water. It was taken on 26 September 2005

I'd guess the later you go in the summer, the lower the reservoir will be, but I have no idea how late you need to be to see the roman bridge.

Measuring the length of the new bridge on google Maps shows it to be about 1000 feet (300 meters), depending on where one decides the ends are.

According to this page the roman bridge was built in the 2nd century, but was destroyed by Doña Urraca the Queen of Castilla at an unspecified date to stop the advance of her husband's troops (it was evidently an unhappy marriage of epic proportions), and she had it rebuilt 8 years later. She reigned from 1109 to 1126, so it would have been during that range. It looks like the main fighting between her and her husband was during 1111 and 1112, so the rebuilt would have probably been in 1119 or 1120.

I'd guess that only one or two spans would have actually been destroyed and rebuilt, since that would have sufficed. So I'd guess that the majority of the bridge was built in the 2nd century, and one or two spans were rebuilt in the 12th century.

 

[whariwharangi]

Does anyone know the length of the The Fichier Bridge Portomarin Spain? Also what is it like in summer...meaning can you see the Roman Bridge as well as the water below, and just how far is the drop.
How old is it?

I have a bridge nut friend who is curious.
Thnks

It is barely wide enough to cross the river ... just a bit shorter and it wouldn't have been enough. Its just high enough to keep your feet dry when the lake is full. A good design; even if all it does is hold up traffic.

The old bridge is visible when the water level is very low. My understanding is that its not an annual event. I saw it November 2012 and you could just about see where the original ford is ... I haven't been before or since.

 

[Davey Boyd]

I managed to cross over the old Roman bridge in September 2015

 

[DebR]

Does anyone know the length of the The Fichier Bridge Portomarin

The Roman bridge and ruins were clearly visible in mid-October the last two years...

 

[Bert45]

Does anyone know the length of the The Fichier Bridge Portomarin Spain? Also what is it like in summer...meaning can you see the Roman Bridge as well as the water below, and just how far is the drop. How old is it? I have a bridge nut friend who is curious.
Thnks

Where did you find the name "Fichier Bridge"? I have crossed it three times and never heard it called that. I've read many books and blogs about the Camino Francés and never seen it called that. I've seen Puente Nuevo, Puente del Miño (Spanish), Ponte Nova, and Ponte do Miño (Galician).

 

[Kathar1na]

Where did you find the name "Fichier Bridge"? I have crossed it three times and never heard it called that. I've read many books and blogs about the Camino Francés and never seen it called that. I've seen Puente Nuevo, Puente del Miño (Spanish), Ponte Novo Ponte do Miño (Galician).

I wonder about this, too. I see that nobody has replied to your question yet. So: is there a type of bridge called "Fichier bridge"? Or is there a famous bridge builder or other famous person with the name of Fichier after whom this bridge in Portomarín takes its name?

I see that there are a few hits in Google that have a "fichier bridge of Portomarín" without any further explanation. My guess at the moment is that this is another case where people just copy erroneous names or erroneous descriptions from a book or website without questioning it. It wouldn't be the first time that this has happened. The Cruceiro in Lameiros and the small Santiago Church in Eirexe (Ligonde) are prime examples where fantasy descriptions have established themselves on the net and in the blogs.

 

[t2andreo]

Using the GPS-based measuring tool in Google Earth Pro, I just measured the distance across the Ponte Nova Bridge (the correct name). As end points, I used the center of the small roundabout on the east side, across the bridge to the small roundabout just off the bridge span on the west end of the bridge, but before the stairs.

The actual GPS measurement i achieved is 334.82 meters. I will attempt to attach a copy of the resulting image here, below. The yellow line on the bridge is the digital "ruler."

Even if we debate where the EXACT measuring points should be, the bridge length should still be slightly over 300 meters. I used the center of the "T" shaped intersections formed by the bridge and the cross road as it was convenient.

Just as an FYI, I used to do this for a living when employed as a "civil servant." Of course, this environment has more man made structures than does a more open place, like a jungle or desert...

I hope this helps the discussion.

 

[Kathar1na]

Here is a website (in Spanish) with old photos about Portomarín's river and bridges: http://portomarincidre.blogspot.com/2013/04/portomarin-rio-y-puentes.html

The lower bridge that one can sometimes see right next to the tall modern bridge when the water level is sufficiently low, isn't a Roman bridge or a medieval bridge. That bridge is gone for good, apart from half an arch or so. What is left of it is further away and usually submerged under water.

What you can see when the water level is sufficiently low is actually a newer bridge built in the 1920s. You can safely walk across it when it happens to stick out of the water. On a day just before the middle of November 2019, you could see it and walk across it but the next day (after a lot of rain) it was under water again.

And according to the website (see link above), the modern bridge built in the 1960s is 300 metres long and 30 metres wide and consists of 16 pillars.

 

[Bert45]

I thought I had solved the mystery of the name when this question was first posted, but I'm either imagining it or I did not click on 'Post reply'. One source could be https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-p...r-the-old-roman-bridge-spanning-52693293.html. But ultimately, I think, the misnomer comes from the French word for 'File', as in 'pdf file' [portable document format file].

 

[Kathar1na]

But ultimately, I think, the misnomer comes from the French word for 'File', as in 'pdf file' [portable document format file].

Yep, there are numerous image files of bridges on the internet named as such, for example fichier: bridge on Campel river or fichier: bridge of Hong Kong harbour.jpg and someone overlooked the colon and didn’t know that fichier is the French word for file and thus the fichier bridge was brought into this world.

 

[Pelegrin]

I've seen Puente Nuevo, Puente del Miño (Spanish), Ponte Novo Ponte do Miño (Galician).

As was stated in other posts, correct name in Galician is Ponte Nova, because ponte is feminine in Galician and so the adjective associated.
There are some names where the genre is different in both languages (leche/leite, sal/sal, sangre/sangue, etc.)

 

[Lindsay53]

I did not even realise the Roman bridge was there.

 

[Bert45]

I did not even realise the Roman bridge was there.

You are still learning something new every day. Well, today, at any rate.
As am I, with the gender of 'bridge' in Galician being feminine, but masculine in Spanish.

 

[Pelegrin]

You are still learning something new every day. Well, today, at any rate.
As am I, with the gender of 'bridge' in Galician being feminine, but masculine in Spanish.

I googled "Ponte Novo" and some sites appeared. This is because the Spanish influence on the Galician language, but in normative Galician, "ponte" is feminine. Same in Portuguese "A Ponte 25 de Abril".

 

[Stivandrer]

Using the GPS-based measuring tool in Google Earth Pro, I just measured the distance across the Ponte Nova Bridge (the correct name). As end points, I used the center of the small roundabout on the east side, across the bridge to the small roundabout just off the bridge span on the west end of the bridge, but before the stairs.

The actual GPS measurement i achieved is 334.82 meters. I will attempt to attach a copy of the resulting image here, below. The yellow line on the bridge is the digital "ruler."

Even if we debate where the EXACT measuring points should be, the bridge length should still be slightly over 300 meters. I used the center of the "T" shaped intersections formed by the bridge and the cross road as it was convenient.

Just as an FYI, I used to do this for a living when employed as a "civil servant." Of course, this environment has more man made structures than does a more open place, like a jungle or desert...

I hope this helps the discussion.

View attachment 66755View attachment 66755

I am sure you were...very civil...!

It still accounts for the longest vertigo panic attack whilst carrying a rucksack...crossing this bridge
My maternal grandfather has a recurring nightmare, that whilst riding his horse over a newly constructed 3 kilometer road and railbridge, they both met the steam locomotive that whistled and startled the horse which reared and they plunged the 27 meter down into the water...
my grandfather always said it was silly because you always lead the horse by the bridle over a long bridge, and he would have done, but anyway it came many nights, this nightmare..

For some reason, I think of that story when I cross narrow bridges and dams.....

 

[Bert45]

"It is barely wide enough to cross the river ... just a bit shorter and it wouldn't have been enough." This makes me smile. Perhaps it was meant to be funny. It's a bit like saying of a short person, if his legs were any shorter, they wouldn't reach the ground. A bridge that isn't wide enough to cross a river isn't a bridge. The height of the bridge depends on the water level below it, of course, but what would the maximum height of the bridge be?

 

[Arn]

For me, the bridge is but the last level ground I will pass before, slowly, walking up the steep steps to Portomarin proper.

 

[David Tallan]

"It is barely wide enough to cross the river ... just a bit shorter and it wouldn't have been enough." This makes me smile. Perhaps it was meant to be funny. It's a bit like saying of a short person, if his legs were any shorter, they wouldn't reach the ground. A bridge that isn't wide enough to cross a river isn't a bridge. The height of the bridge depends on the water level below it, of course, but what would the maximum height of the bridge be?

That's true, but I'm aware of some bridges that seem far longer than is necessary to cross the river. So while a bridge needs to be long enough to do so, it can just barely do it or have lots and lots of bridge to spare. Orbigo comes to mind as an example of the latter.

 

[NorthernLight]

That's true, but I'm aware of some bridges that seem far longer than is necessary to cross the river. So while a bridge needs to be long enough to do so, it can just barely do it or have lots and lots of bridge to spare. Orbigo comes to mind as an example of the latter.

The Orbigo bridge construction always struck me as having been built over that flood plain in order to deal with 100 year flood levels.

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

My wife and I are terrified of heights. Each of our three caminos when we approach the bridge, I check for traffic both ways and sometimes walk in the middle of the bridge so I don't need to look over the rail at the sheer drop off. If the water level is low on the "old" bridge, maybe we'll be lucky and be able to walk that and avoid the high bridge. Bob

 

[Tincatinker]

Bob, that old bridge don’t even have handrails...
How are you with paddling? The guy who runs the Anguilla traps upstream from the bridges will guide you across in low water and might even give you a lift in his punt

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

Thanks Tincatinker. Maybe I will ask a local to blindfold me and hold my hand as I cross the bridge! By the way, the steep steps up into the old town are almost equally scary! Bob

 

[caminka]

The Orbigo bridge construction always struck me as having been built over that flood plain in order to deal with 100 year flood levels.

the river was much wider before a dam was built upstream but it's also true that the water level probably varied greatly according to season.

 

[Ella B.]

I managed to cross over the old Roman bridge in Septembe

It is barely wide enough to cross the river ... just a bit shorter and it wouldn't have been enough. Its just high enough to keep your feet dry when the lake is full. A good design; even if all it does is hold up traffic.

The old bridge is visible when the water level is very low. My understanding is that its not an annual event. I saw it November 2012 and you could just about see where the original ford is ... I haven't been before or since.

I walked the old bridge at the end of October 2012.

 

[peregrina2000]

@Bert45 recently posted a video (from the 60s) showing how the town was destroyed, the church was moved, the dam was built, and then came the new bridge. It is fascinating. The narration is unrealistically upbeat (in light of the faces of the villagers) and praises how man conquers nature and how human progress can’t be stopped.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/the-story-of-portomar%C3%ADn.71976/

 

[C clearly]

The dismantling and reconstruction of the church and other buildings was quite remarkable!

 

[VNwalking]

The dismantling and reconstruction of the church and other buildings was quite remarkable!

The narration is unrealistically upbeat (in light of the faces of the villagers) and praises how man conquers nature and how human progress can’t be stopped.

So 1960's, before people understood that we humans can't conquer nature. Reading that link was fascinating, because it showed the way of life in the town that was rooted in its relationship with the river. I was fascinated by the eel fishing. Now, of course, it's gone except for a token artificial stocking of the river, since the eels can no longer naturally make their way to the sea and back.

The new sterile town will never replace what the dam and rising water has destroyed. The looks on peoples faces speak volumes. I find it very sad.