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Named after the famous explorer, this 17 km bridge across the Tagus Estuary was opened in 1998 in time for the Expo that Lisbon hosted that year. The total cost of the enormous civil engineering project, which was completed slightly ahead of schedule, totalled the equivalent of nearly 1 billion Euros, and was financed mainly by private sector and EU structural funds. A toll is levied for using it. Extra costs included the saving and protection of an important marshland bird sanctuary containing rare flamingos as well as the relocation of some 300 families living in slums around the bridge. The bridge features six road lanes and during construction surveyors had to factor in the Earth's curvature to position the piers correctly, otherwise, because of the length of the bridge, they would have been 80 cm off target.
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