Gamboa Bridge

Gamboa bridge In 1907 for the relocated Panama Railroad, a contract was awarded for a new bridge in Gamboa to the Penn Bridge Company with a value of $59,600 what would be role="main" tabindex="-1".9m in today’s money. It is 1300 feet or 396-meter-long bridge consisting in one riveted span and various girder spans. It is in the narrowest point of the Chagres River where it meets the Gatun Lake, and it was finished by mid-1908. Originally, the bridge was only to be used by the railroad but with the arrival of the vehicles fleet, a car lane was enabled that had to be used in one way at a time controlled by traffic lights at each end.

After Panama Canal Railway Company took over the railroad in 2000, the bridge was renovated but without changing its structure and it is in use up to this date. On June 23rd, 2020, the Bluebill vessel lost steering while transiting the Panama Canal hitting the bridge and two trusses fell interrupting the railroad service for three months until September the 29th. The vehicular transit was moved to the new bridge that was built by the Panama Canal Authority in 2018.