Deir ez-Zor suspension bridge

The Deir ez-Zor suspension bridge (Arabic: جسر دير الزور المعلق) was a pedestrian suspension bridge crossing the Euphrates River, in the city of Deir ez-Zor in north-eastern Syria.

Deir ez-Zor suspension bridge جسر دير الزور المعلق
Deir ez-Zor bridge, with suspension cables and Euphrates
Coordinates	35°20′42″N 40°09′04″E
Crossed	Euphrates river
Locale	Deir ez-Zor, Syria
Characteristics
Design	Suspension
Total length	500 m (1,600 ft)
Height	36 m (118 ft)
Longest span	105 m (344 ft)
No. of spans	4
History
Construction end	1927
Collapsed	2013 (destroyed)
Location

The former footbridge connected, across the Euphrates River, the Levant region and the main section of the city on the southern bank, with Upper Mesopotamia region and the eastern section of the city on the northern bank.

History

Former Deir ez-Zor suspension bridge crossing the Euphrates

Cables and pedestrian deck of the former suspension bridge

The iron/steel pedestrian bridge was built in 1927, by the French construction company Fougerolle (then-under Le Soliditit Françs), during the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon period (1920−1941).

The Deir ez-Zor suspension bridge was destroyed in May 2013, from shelling by Syrian Army forces during the Syrian Civil War.^[1]

After the suspension bridge was destroyed, the Siyasiyeh Bridge became the last entry route across the Euphrates to the western section of the city and the adjoining province of Hasakeh. However the locally renamed "bridge of death" was sufficiently dangerous to attacks that only one vehicle could speed across the bridge at a time during night time darkness.^[2] It was destroyed in May 2013, being blown up as a result of the battle between the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham and the Syrian Army.^[3]

See also

• Deir ez-Zor clashes (2011–14)
• Battle of Deir ez-Zor – in 1941, during World War II