Rio–Niterói Bridge
President Costa e Silva Bridge, commonly known as the Rio–Niterói Bridge, is a box girder bridge crossing Guanabara Bay, in the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It connects the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói. It is currently the second longest bridge in Latin America, after the Metro Line 1 bridge, and the 48th longest in the world in 2020. From its completion in 1974 until 1985 it was the world's second-longest bridge, second only to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. History. The concept dates to 1875, when a bridge-and-tunnel  connection was envisioned between two cities separated by Guanabara Bay and connected by road only via inland journey of more than through the city of Magé. In 1963, a working group was created to study a bridge-building project. On December 29, 1965, an executive committee was formed to run the bridge-building program. President Artur da Costa e Silva signed a decree on August 23, 1968, authorizing the project for the bridge. The bridge program was run by Minister of Transport Mario Andreazza. Construction began symbolically on November 9, 1968, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II of the  United Kingdom on her first, and thus far only, visit to Brazil. Actual work began in January 1969. The bridge was constructed by a consortium of Brazilian companies led by Camargo Correa SA (for the concrete works) and by Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company and Redpath Dorman Long in association with Montreal Engenharia of Brazil (for the steel navigation spans). It is long – over water and the bridge's central span is high in order to allow the passage of hundreds of ships entering and leaving the bay every month. At the time it was completed, the central span was the  longest box girder in the world; it has since been surpassed by the main span of the Stolma Bridge (1998) and the main span of the second Shibanpo Bridge (2006). It carries 140,000 vehicles daily, which pay a toll only when entering Niterói of R$4.30 (as of June 2018), about US$1.10, GBP£0.85 or €0.97. It has 18 access points and eight overpasses. The bridge opened on March 4, 1974, with the official name of President Costa e Silva Bridge. "Rio-Niterói" started as a descriptive nickname that soon became better known than the official name. Today hardly anyone  refers to it by its official name. Officially, it is part of federal highway BR-101. From 1 June 1995, it was under the management of Ponte S.A. under a 20-year concession until 1 June 2015 since when Ecoponte has managed the bridge. In 1977, the famous Brazilian singer Maysa died in a car crash on the bridge. The bridge was featured in the 2011 film "Fast Five". The Puerto Rican bridge Teodoro Moscoso doubled for the bridge during the last moments of the film. In 2012 a bill was introduced to change its official name, President Costa e Silva  Bridge - the second president of the Brazilian military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985 - to Herbert de Souza Bridge, which has annoyed the Brazilian military.