page_title: Faidherbe Bridge
section_title: The first bridge
hierarchical_section_title: Faidherbe Bridge / The first bridge
caption_attribution_description: English: Period post card, illustrating the oppening of the Faidherbe Bridge Română: Carte poştală de epocă ilustrând traveea cu deschidere pentru navigaţie a podului Faidherbe.
context_page_description: Faidherbe Bridge is a road bridge over the Senegal River which links the island of the city of Saint-Louis in Senegal to the African mainland. The metal bridge is 507.35 m long and 10.5 m wide, weighing 1,500 t. It has eight spans, of which the longest five are 78.26 m.
  Until the 19th century, access to the island was made through boats. After the introduction of a ferry that could transport 150 passengers, Louis Faidherbe quickly saw that the system was clearly overrun and decided to construct the first bridge over the Sénégal River. The governor of Senegal, Henri de Lamothe decided to take a loan worth five million gold francs to construct a new metallic bridge in Saint-Louis. After the construction company was selected, they all decided to construct a new metallic bridge with a section capable of turning 90 degrees to allow the passage of ships. The bridge was opened on July 14, 1897. In the 2000s, a US$27 million rehabilitation plan has been inaugurated.
context_section_description: The city of Saint-Louis, the first capital of the French West Africa, is situated on an island near the estuary of the Sénégal River. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a thin 40 kilometres (25 mi) strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie, which starts from Nouadhibou in Mauritania and extends all the way to Saint-Louis. The suburbs of Guet Ndar and Ndar-Tout are situated in this area.
  Until the 19th century, access to the island was by boat. Troops, horses and the equipment of the French colonial army all had to be transported by small boats.
  In 1858, Louis Faidherbe, the governor of Senegal, inaugurated the Bouteville boat that was capable of transporting 150 passengers, animals and all kinds of goods. The boat made ten crosses every day and the fares differed: five centimes for a person, 50 centimes for a horse, cow or camel, and two francs for a carriage. In less than a year it was obvious that this system was overrun and a second boat was introduced but with no success.
  Seeing this, the frigate captain Robin, friend of Louis Faidherbe, asked Prince Jérôme Napoléon, Minister of Algeria and the African Colonies, for approval for construction of a floating bridge. Opened on July 2, 1865, the bridge had a total length of 680 m (2,230 ft) (the floating part of the bridge had a length of 350 m or 1,150 ft) and a width of 4 m (13 ft). The floating part was formed from 40 metal pontoons which supported a wooden deck. Three of these pontoons were specially designed so that it could be created a 20 m (66 ft) gap so that large vessels could pass. The bridge was named Faidherbe Bridge by a decree of Napoleon III of France.
  The opening in 1885 of the Saint-Louis–Dakar railway increased the traffic over the bridge. The railway reached all the way to Sor and all the goods hauled between the coast and the railway station had to cross over the bridge. To prevent the breakdown of the bridge a special decree was given so that the maximum weight for a vehicle that crosses the bridge to be less than one and a half tonnes. With all its difficulties the bridge remained in service 32 years, until 1897 when it was dismantled.
caption: The old Faidherbe Bridge
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