Qasr El Nil Bridge

Qasr El Nil

Asr El Nil
Qasr El Nil; Asr El Nil
	View of the Qasr El Nil Bridge, with Gezira/Zamalek Island in the background
Coordinates	30°02′37″N 31°13′46″E / 30.043747°N 31.229464°E
Carries	Tahrir Street
Crosses	Nile River
Characteristics
Design	swing bridge, arch
Material	Steel
Total length	1 932 m
No. of spans	7
History
Designer	Ralph Anthony Freeman
Engineering design by	Dorman, Long and Co. Ltd.
Construction start	1931
Construction end	1933
Construction cost	E£308,000
Opened	June 6, 1933
Replaces	El Gezira Bridge (1872)
Location

The Qasr el Nil Bridge (originally named Khedive Ismail Bridge, Egyptian Arabic: Asr el Nil Bridge), is a historic swing bridge structure dating from 1931 which replaced the first bridge to span the Nile River in central Cairo, Egypt.^[2] It connects Tahrir Square in Downtown Cairo on the east bank of the river, to the southern end of Gezira/Zamalek Island. At the bridge's east and west approaches are four large bronze lion statues; they are late 19th-century works by Henri Alfred Jacquemart, French sculptor and animalier.

Route

Qasr El Nil Street crosses over the Nile on the bridge, from the east bank area Tahrir Square—Liberation Square in downtown Cairo, past the huge Mogamma government building and the headquarters of the Arab League, then onto the Qasr El Nil Bridge over the river to Gezira Island. There it meets Opera Square and the Cairo Opera House, with connections north to the Cairo Tower and the Zamalek district, and south across the island to the Tahrir Bridge across a smaller branch of the Nile to Tahrir Street in the Agouza district on the west bank.^{[citation needed]}

Construction and name

Al Gezira Bridge (bottom right) in 1904

Eastern entrance to Al-Gezira Bridge, ca.1895

El-Gezira Bridge swings open, n.d.

The previous bridge on the site, El Gezira Bridge, was a swing bridge built between 1869 and 1871 by Linant de Bellefonds with the participation of France's Five-Lilles Company.^[3]

The foundation stone for the present Qasr El Nil Bridge was laid by King Fuad I on February 4, 1931.^[1] It was also a swing bridge, though almost double as wide as the original, and after over two years of construction, undertaken by Dorman Long & Co. Ltd, King Fuad inaugurated the bridge's opening on June 6, 1933.^[3]

The bridge was originally named Khedive Ismail Bridge after King Fuad's father, Khedive Isma'il Pasha. After the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the bridge was renamed, along with other Egyptian buildings and bridges. This bridge was renamed Qasr El Nil in Arabic, which translates to Palace of the Nile.^[4]

Public use and demonstrations

The Qasr El Nil Bridge is popular for strolling in the evenings.^{[citation needed]}

2011 Egyptian Revolution

The bridge, along with the nearby 6th October Bridge, was a regular site in the 2011 Egyptian revolution for public demonstrations and as a major route east to protest gatherings in Tahrir Square.^[5]