Qasr El Nil Bridge
Qasr El Nil Asr El Nil | |
|---|---|
 View of the Qasr El Nil Bridge, with Gezira/Zamalek Island in the background | |
| Coordinates | 30°02′37″N 31°13′46″E / 30.043747°N 31.229464°E |
| Carries | Tahrir Street[1] |
| Crosses | Nile River |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | swing bridge, arch[1] |
| Material | Steel[1] |
| Total length | 1 932 m[1] |
| No. of spans | 7 |
| History | |
| Designer | Ralph Anthony Freeman[1] |
| Engineering design by | Dorman, Long and Co. Ltd.[1] |
| Construction start | 1931[1] |
| Construction end | 1933[1] |
| Construction cost | E£308,000 |
| Opened | June 6, 1933 |
| Replaces | El Gezira Bridge (1872)[1] |
| Location | |
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The Qasr el Nil Bridge (originally named Khedive Ismail Bridge, Egyptian Arabic: Asr el Nil Bridge), is a historic swing bridge structure dating from 1931 which replaced the first bridge to span the Nile River in central Cairo, Egypt.[2] It connects Tahrir Square in Downtown Cairo on the east bank of the river, to the southern end of Gezira/Zamalek Island. At the bridge's east and west approaches are four large bronze lion statues; they are late 19th-century works by Henri Alfred Jacquemart, French sculptor and animalier.
Route
[edit]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 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.[citation needed]
Construction and name
[edit]
_-_front_-_TIMEA.jpg)
The previous bridge on the site, El Gezira Bridge, was a swing bridge built between 1869 and 1871 by Linant de Bellefonds with the participation of France's Five-Lilles Company.[3]
The foundation stone for the present Qasr El Nil Bridge was laid by King Fuad I on February 4, 1931.[1] It was also a swing bridge, though almost double as wide as the original, and after over two years of construction, undertaken by Dorman Long & Co. Ltd, King Fuad inaugurated the bridge's opening on June 6, 1933.[3]
The bridge was originally named Khedive Ismail Bridge after King Fuad's father, Khedive Isma'il Pasha. After the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the bridge was renamed, along with other Egyptian buildings and bridges. This bridge was renamed Qasr El Nil in Arabic, which translates to Palace of the Nile.[4]
Public use and demonstrations
[edit]The Qasr El Nil Bridge is popular for strolling in the evenings.[citation needed]
2011 Egyptian Revolution
[edit]The bridge, along with the nearby 6th October Bridge, was a regular site in the 2011 Egyptian revolution for public demonstrations and as a major route east to protest gatherings in Tahrir Square.[5]
Gallery
[edit]-
View of western bridge end with lions (circa 1930s) -
View of eastern bridge end with obelisks and lions, circa 2000s -
Crowds and police on the bridge during the 2011 Egyptian revolution -
View of the bridge at night -
Cairo – Kasr-El-Nil Bridge -
Setting the lions in place on the Ismail bridge
_-_front_-_TIMEA.jpg)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kasr el Nil Bridge - Structurae
- ^ Stephen, F W (1935-01-01). "The new khedive ismail bridge, cairo, egypt". Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 240 (1935): 365–393. doi:10.1680/imotp.1935.15246.
- ^ a b Rafaat, Samir (April 29, 1995). "A BRIDGE MISUNDERSTOOD". www.egy.com. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ Fleishman, Jeffrey (August 14, 2007). "Cairo's bridge of dreams". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ BBC News: "Egypt protests: curfew defied in Cairo and other cities" 29 January 2011. accessed 2011.01.29.
External links
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