Thursday, 20 November 2025, 17:27
An imposing maritime transport platform accompanied by two tugboats is being sighted from the coasts of Estepona, Casares and Manilva, arousing the curiosity of residents and also of sailors who come across it in the Alboran Sea. It is a large, slow-moving barge, about 3.4 knots, or just over 6 km/hour, carrying a large metal structure which, as SUR has been able to confirm, is the new section of the historic Anne-de-Bretagne bridge in Nantes, some 150 metres long and 32 metres wide.
The main element weighs approximately 2,000 tonnes, plus a further 1,000 tonnes of temporary structures, hence the slow movement.
The columns that are raised from the barge are actually temporary support pillars and do not form part of the bridge span, but provide support and stability during transport, helping to keep the piece stable on the barge and also serve as protection for the structure and reinforcements to support the loads during navigation and wave movement.
This part, manufactured at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone (Italy), was loaded on 22 October and the maritime convoy was launched, according to sources from the Nantes city council, on 28 October, crossing the Adriatic, the Sicilian channel, the western Mediterranean, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean before arriving in Nantes via the Loire river.
The Estepona port authority has not recorded any planned port call or manoeuvre in the port and, for the moment, there is no official communication beyond the ordinary transit reported by the vessel. The operation, however, was visible through the public AIS tracking systems, which confirmed the convoy’s trajectory towards the Strait of Gibraltar.
Transformation of the city
Moving large infrastructure by sea is common in this type of engineering project, especially suspension bridges or large metal sections that cannot be moved by land. The new Anne-de-Bretagne bridge will replace the existing structure over the Loire and is one of the most important works currently underway in the region of Pays de la Loire.
This piece of the Anne-de-Bretagne bridge structure will arrive in Nantes by the end of 2025, barring unforeseen circumstances, and is part of a very innovative project for the city that began in 2014 and will be completed by the end of 2027.
It is a project of urban transformation and sustainable mobility that will redefine the connection of the city across the Loira river, an example of citizen participation and which involves the transformation of the current bridge into “a bridge that will house a square suspended in the water. It will combine mobility, green spaces and walking areas, integrating opinions on eco-design, mobility, aesthetics and adaptation to climate change”.
This sighting has therefore generated considerable interest on the western Costa del Sol, as it is unusual for structures of this magnitude to transit so close to the coast.