On the 100th anniversary of Gustave Eiffel's death, the bridge in Andalucía that is the 'poor cousin' of the famous tower in Paris

When the name Gustave Eiffel is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is the iron structure on the banks of the Seine river in Paris designed by his company and built for the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle. However, the engineer's numerous works and buildings can be found all over Europe and even the world. According to the Association of Descendants of Gustave Eiffel, the distinguished engineer built more than 500 structures in 30 countries. Eiffel also left traces in Spain, and at least one of them is in Andalucía. Some Andalusian cities and towns still preserve fragments of his work, as well as some legends and stories.

In 1864, the Frenchman started working independently and created his own company, Gustave Eiffel et Compagnie, based in Levallois-Perret. Gustave Eiffel, known for his love of new means of communication, created many objects related to trains, from railway stations to railway bridges. Not surprisingly, Eiffel's workshops specialised in metal bridges and viaducts, iron piles and scaffolds, harbour towers and lighthouses, railways, cranes and lifting equipment. According to some reports, Gustave Eiffel sought various licences from Spain to create his designs during the peninsula's railway boom. His little-known works can be found all over Spain: in Galicia, the Basque Country, Extremadura and Catalonia, amongst others.

His first bridge in Spain was built in 1878 in Girona. It was nine years later that he built the iconic Parisian landmark. The old Pont del Rellotge bridge was supposed to 'save' the River Güell river, which runs through the Catalan city.

However, one of the most impressive Eiffel bridges in Spain is in Granada. El Hacho Bridge takes us back to an era when trains were the main means of transport between the cities of Andalucía. The extension of the railway between Jaén and Granada took place at the end of the 19th century. The railway line connecting Moreda with Linares-Baeza was commissioned by Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Sur de España and built by the French company Fives-Lille. The bridge was built between 1886 and 1895 between the municipalities of Alamedilla and Guadahortuna, then the industrial centre of Granada province. (Several centuries ago, Guadahortuna was the main supplier of coal and wood to Granada, and was also known for its glass industry.)

The iron bridge, with a span of 625 metres and a height of 50 metres, is considered one of the largest metal viaducts created by the Eiffel School in Spain, and... one of the most peculiar. El Hacho Bridge is created using superimposed metal moulds. It has been dubbed the "poor cousin" of the Eiffel Tower.

The inauguration of the Hacho Bridge was held in 1897 (some sources say 1898), and seven decades later the bridge fell into disuse, as did the stations in the municipalities to which it belongs. A modern concrete bridge was built alongside in the late 1970s. However, El Hacho was saved from demolition by local residents.

In Granada province, there is a bridge named after Eiffel. Puente Eiffel is an iron bridge over the Genil river situated between the municipalities of Láchar and Pinos Puente. It was built in the 1897 by the studio of Gustave Eiffel. Don Julio Quesada-Cañaveral commissioned the bridge to connect the station of Íllora by the Decauville railway at Láchar with two important factories that the nobleman had in Láchar. The bridge is considered the last vestige of the Industrial Revolution in Vega de Granada.

Although the bridge in Láchar is classified as a protected monument, it is currently in an advanced state of neglect, with no remodelling or refurbishment work having been carried out to make it suitable for use as a platform for pedestrians and cyclists. This means that, on occasions, the bridge acts as a dam when the river rises.

The 'Three Eyes' bridge (El Puente de los Tres Ojos) over the Guadalquivir River connects the town of Villa del Río and Cordoba on the A-3101 motorway. In 1889, it was not built for the railway. Wikipedia recognises it as a bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel and gives an alternative name, the Iron Bridge (Puente de Hierro). Although many articles have been published in local newspapers in recent years in the context of its long-term reform, however, they do not mention that it is a creation of Eiffel or of any connection with his workshops.

Incidentally, there is another Puente de Hierro in Andalucía, which is mentioned in some sources as a creation of Eiffel, or rather of his workshops. Apparently, the wrought iron bridge was built in 1885 to cross the bed of the Río Genil during the extension of the line that connected Marchena with Écija and Cordoba. The bridge was made of triangular, riveted girders and consisted of two sections formed by reinforced straight beams with a double lattice resembling St Andrew's Cross.

The Andalusian capital also boasts a couple of legends associated with Gustave Eiffel and his work. One of Seville's most impressive bridges, the Isabel II Bridge, commonly known as the 'Triana', has long been thought to be the work of Gustave Eiffel. The real author is Gustavo Steinacher. It is believed that he and Eiffel exchanged some letters and thereby created the misunderstanding. Thus was born the myth of the Eiffel Bridge over the Guadalquivir.

Apparently inspired by 'several' of Eiffel's Andalusian works, the iron bridge over the Río Guadalmedina in the heart of Málaga is sometimes referred to as a project from Eiffel's workshops. The bridge, named after the church of Santo Domingo and also known as the Bridge of the Germans (Puente de los Alemanes), may clearly follow Eiffel's style, but excludes any reference to Gustave Eiffel.