Silves Council announces investment of 500 thousand euros in the rehabilitation of Ponte Velha Bridge

The Mayor of Silves has confirmed that the municipality will be investing in the rehabilitation of the city’s Ponte Velha, which is of Roman origin. A project that should last 8 months with an estimated cost of 500 thousand euros.

Since 2016 the bridge has been closed due to the risk of collapse, however, the mayor revealed at the Municipality Day ceremony that took place last Monday at Silves castle. Moreover, despite the bridge’s closure, it is still regularly used by some brave pedestrians.

Rosa Palma apologized for the time taken to progress in this process, claiming that it was necessary to wait for the opinion of the Portuguese Infrastructure Association in regards to reconstructing the aspects of the old bridge.

The official also mentioned the requalification of the Largo da República gardens, which started in May with a deadline of 14 months. The total investment of these two projects is 1.8 million euros, with a financial support grant from the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of 557 thousand euros.

She acknowledged that the work has caused some inconvenience to those who live nearby, as well to students and employees of the Secondary School, “because in fact most of the infrastructures are being removed, so that we can do it all over again, and this I assume is not easy, I understand that sometimes there may be some impatience, but we are working to meet the deadline so that in the future we can have another attractive space for both Silves residents and visitors.”