GATTEL (Gabinete para a Travessia do Tejo em Lisboa) was established, the purpose of which was to decide on the location of the Crossing, as well as to co-ordinate and control the procedures necessary to promote its construction and operation as a private concession.

1994 (April)

LUSOPONTE, a consortium of Portuguese, British and French companies, won the international public tender for the concession to design, construct, finance and operate the new crossing.

1995 (February)

Vasco da Gama Bridge Construction was begun

1998 (29 March) - Vasco da Gama Bridge opened to Traffic

The location of the New Crossing was chosen in order to lighten traffic on the 25 Abril Bridge and to prevent heavy traffic, travelling from north to the south of the country, passing through the city of Lisbon.

This project, which was completed in a very tights schedule in order to allow for easy access to Expo'98, also included an expropriation and re-housing project, which for the first time in Portugal was undertaken by a private entity.

One of the ever-present concerns of this huge project was the preservation of its surrounding environment, resulting in a vast environmental programme. This programme was implemented from the very onset of construction and included, among other things, the Samouco Salt Pans located in the Special Protection Zone.

The construction of Vasco da Gama Bridge over the river Tagus by Lusoponte has now passed into the annals of the history of civil engineering as one of the largest and most successful projects of the 20th Century.

This Project gained international recognition when it was awarded first prize by the prestigious Ibero-Americana Institution of Architecture and Civil Engineering in the year 2000.