El Pedrido

About this heritage

El Pedrido is a site classified as a Betanzos-Mandeo Site of Community Importance (SCI), it is also of Community Interest and is part of the Natura 2000 Network. In this area at the mouth of the Mandeo River, sedimentary formations and marshes appear. The marsh is a habitat of regional importance for migratory marsh birds that use Galicia's wetlands as a resting point during their annual migrations.

The Pedrido bridge is located over the Betanzos estuary and has connected both shores since its construction years (1939 to 1942).

The time lost by going around the estuary (since an 8-kilometer detour was necessary) and the limitation on the goods that could be transported by barge restricted the development of the area for many years, making the construction of a bridge connecting the two shores essential. The construction, which actually began in 1920, was halted due to various problems, including the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

Several engineers and companies participated in its construction. The works resumed in 1939 followed the project of engineer César Villalba, although he did not manage to complete the work. The most representative element of the bridge is the large central arch of 75 meters with a 12.50-meter rise, featuring two hinges and a lower deck, suspended by pendulums spaced 3.65 meters apart, a work by Eduardo Torroja Miret, the same engineer who designed the finishing project between 1941 and 1942. The bridge was officially inaugurated on April 15, 1943, and was significant news as demonstrated by its coverage in both the written press and the famous NO-DO.

As mentioned, the construction of this bridge not only gave an impetus to the populations on both sides of the estuary but also improved communications between A Coruña and Ferrol.

To learn more

The O Pedrido area is where the bridge and the beach of the same name are located.

The Pedrido beach is a semi-urban, straight beach, 700 meters long, with fine white sand, calm waters, and moderate waves offering beautiful views of the Betanzos estuary.

O Pedrido belongs to the biosphere reserve called Las Mariñas Coruñesas e Terras do Mandeo. Las Mariñas Coruñesas e Terras do Mandeo was declared a reserve on May 28, 2013, and covers 17 municipalities in the regions of A Coruña, Betanzos, and Terra de Melide. The reserve spans an area of 113,970 hectares and is home to a population of about 195,000 people. It is also a Site of Community Importance (SCI) and part of the Natura 2000 Network.

In the marshes forming the O Pedrido beach, the Mandeo and Mero rivers attract: herons, great egrets, and kingfishers. Yellow-legged gulls and black-headed gulls can reach concentrations of 3,000 to 4,000 individuals at low tide at Pedrido and Ponte do Porco, mixed with lesser black-backed gulls and great black-backed gulls. Both the Eurasian curlew and the whimbrel are abundant in O Pedrido.

The estuary hosts clams, cockles, mussels, as well as sea bass, mullet, bib, mackerel, sole, sardine, anchovy, and conger eel, among others.

O Pedrido beach is located on the left and right edges of the bridge with the same name; on one side, the wide sandy beach stands out, and on the other side, the entertainment areas and services offered to tourists exploring the area.

The Pedrido Bridge is an arch bridge crossing the Betanzos estuary, connecting the municipalities of Bergondo and Paderne.

The bridge is a public work built between 1939 and 1942.

Before the bridge was built, locals transported goods for sale by boat, which limited the amount they could carry or forced them to go around the estuary passing through the city of Betanzos, resulting in significant time loss. Thanks to this work, a before and after was marked both in communication and in the construction methods used, as well as an improvement in the region and neighboring areas.

The first project manager was engineer Luciano Yordi, but little was known about his design except that the bridge would be about thirteen meters high. Shortly after construction began, work was halted due to local protests.

In 1928, César Villalba Granda was assigned the project, but it took five years to start construction, and the building of the Zamora - A Coruña railway diminished its priority.

The initially contracted construction company was replaced in 1935 by another of Italian origin. This company had to correct the errors made by the previous one and was forced to destroy the bridge's arch to build and raise a new one.

By 1936, construction was ongoing with the metal framework being erected, but the outbreak of the Civil War caused all work to be abandoned.

In 1940, when work resumed, it was necessary to replace the framework with another made of rolled profiles. The unfinished work was scheduled to be completed that same year, but the Spanish autocracy prioritized rebuilding Catalan bridges destroyed during the Civil War, delaying the bridge's completion until 1943.

The engineer responsible for finalizing the bridge design, following César Villalba Granda's layout, was Eduardo Torroja Miret, one of the greatest civil engineers of his time. In most of his works, he was an innovator, applying reinforced concrete and revolutionary forms never before used to his architectural structures.

He designed the completion project between 1941 and 1942. Torroja designed and built a 75-meter tense arch with a 12.50-meter rise, two hinges, and a lower deck suspended by pendants spaced between them. The deck is a continuous slab 3.65 m wide, except for the two edges of 2.83 m supported on transverse beams at the ends of the arch pendants. The arch consists of two main ribs with variable thickness and uniform extensive springings.

The engineer established a fundamental work due to the use of reinforced concrete, and upon completion, the bridge improved communications within the region and between A Coruña and Ferrol until the construction of the AP-9 highway.

The bridge was inaugurated on April 16, 1943, and the news was covered by the media of that time. In 2013-2014, external layer renovations were carried out, but the structure remains in excellent preservation condition.

To know it better

Bergondo is a Galician municipality located in the province of A Coruña in the Betanzos estuary, bordering the municipalities of Sada, Cambre, Abegondo, Betanzos, and Paderne. On part of the coast of the Betanzos estuary, we find O Pedrido. This area is situated in a protected environment and is recognized as a Site of Community Importance (SCI). Its beach is located at the mouth of the Mandeo river, and its waters, although calm, depend on the tide. The beach is 500 meters long and 40 meters wide, with dark sand.

The shores of the Betanzos estuary are connected by the well-known Pedrido Bridge, built between 1939 and 1942. Construction of the bridge was interrupted several times, and until then, the Betanzos estuary was crossed by boats, which meant much more time was needed to cross and limited the amount of goods transported. The bridge project was conceived by César Villalba Granda and Eduardo Torroja Miret, and its execution was carried out by the company Ricardo Barrredo S.A. Its length is over 250 meters, and its construction is divided into three sections: the first is a deck supported by ten double arches; the second, a large double arch held by forty pendants; and the third, formed by three double concrete arches supporting the remaining deck meters.