a centre-left win in the 1995 general elections. The toll is set at €1.85 for passenger cars (), northbound (into Lisbon). There is no toll southbound, and until 2010, no tolls were collected during the month of August. From 2011 on, the Portuguese Government abolished that exception, in order to help the efforts to reduce the budget deficit. Assuming that no legal changes happen, the concession will end on 24 March 2030, after which the bridge will again be state-managed. Design The 25 de Abril Bridge is based in part on two San Francisco Bay Area bridges. Its paint is the same International Orange color as the famous Golden Gate Bridge, and the design is similar as well to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. Both the Bay Bridge and the 25 de Abril Bridge were built by the same company. The American Society of Civil Engineers says: "Like its sister bridge, the SFOBB in San Francisco, the Tagus River Bridge is located in an area with a long history of earthquakes" and seismic data had to be taken into account in its construction. Another sister bridge is the Forth Road Bridge in Edinburgh. Upon completion, the bridge had the longest suspended span and the longest main span in Continental Europe, the world's longest continuous truss, and the world's deepest bridge foundation. It was the fifth-largest suspension bridge in the world, and the largest outside the US. Today it is the 43rd largest suspension bridge in the world. Numbers a daily average of 150,000 cars cross the bridge, including 7,000 on the peak hour. Rail traffic is also heavy, with a daily average of 157 trains. In all, around 380,000 people cross the bridge daily (190,000 if considering return trips). Other numbers: – length of main span – length of truss – height from water to upper platform – height of main towers (seventh tallest structure in Portugal) – diameter of each of the two sets of main cables 11,248 – number of steel wire strand cables, each in diameter, in each set of main cables – length of steel wire strand cables making up the two sets of main cables – depth (below water-level) of the foundation of the south pillar – length of access roads 32 – viaducts in the access roads See also Vasco da Gama Bridge, another notable span serving Lisbon Fertagus, trains References External links A