Qasr El Nil Asr El Nil | |
|---|---|
 View of the Qasr El Nil Bridge, withGezira/Zamalek Island in the background | |
| Coordinates | 30°02′37″N31°13′46″E / 30.043747°N 31.229464°E /30.043747; 31.229464 |
| Carries | Tahrir Street[1] |
| Crosses | Nile River |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | swing bridge, arch[1] |
| Material | Steel[1] |
| Total length | 1 932 m[1] |
| No. of spans | 7 |
| History | |
| Designer | Ralph Anthony Freeman[1] |
| Engineering design by | Dorman, Long and Co. Ltd.[1] |
| Construction start | 1931[1] |
| Construction end | 1933[1] |
| Construction cost | E£308,000 |
| Opened | June 6, 1933 |
| Replaces | El Gezira Bridge (1872)[1] |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Qasr El Nil | |
TheQasr el Nil Bridge (originally namedKhedive Ismail Bridge, Egyptian Arabic:Asr el Nil Bridge), is a historicswing bridge structure dating from 1931 which replaced the first bridge to span theNile River in central Cairo, Egypt.[2] It connectsTahrir Square inDowntown Cairo on the east bank of the river, to the southern end ofGezira/Zamalek Island. At the bridge's east and west approaches are four large bronze lion statues; they are late 19th-century works byHenri Alfred Jacquemart, Frenchsculptor andanimalier.
Qasr El Nil Street crosses over the Nile on the bridge, from the east bank areaTahrir Square—Liberation Square indowntown Cairo, past the hugeMogamma government building and theheadquarters of the Arab League, then onto the Qasr El Nil Bridge over the river to Gezira Island. There it meets Opera Square and theCairo Opera House, with connections north to theCairo Tower and theZamalek district, and south across the island to theTahrir Bridge across a smaller branch of the Nile to Tahrir Street in theAgouza district on the west bank.[citation needed]
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The previous bridge on the site, El Gezira Bridge, was aswing bridge built from 1869 to 1871 byLinant 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 KingFuad 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 byDorman 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,KhediveIsma'il Pasha. After theEgyptian Revolution of 1952, the bridge was renamed, along with other Egyptian buildings and bridges. This bridge was renamedQasr El Nil inArabic, which translates to Palace of the Nile.[4]
The Qasr El Nil Bridge is popular for strolling in the evenings.[citation needed]
The bridge, along with the nearby6th October Bridge, was a regular site in the2011 Egyptian revolution for public demonstrations and as a major route east to protest gatherings inTahrir Square.[5]
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