Presidente Costa e Silva Bridge (Rio de Janeiro)

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The Presidente Costa e Silva Bridge is a box girder bridge that connects the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi in Brazil.

Construction began on August 23, 1968 in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip in their first and so far only visit to Brazil. Actual work began on January 1969 and the bridge opened on March 4, 1974. The work was done by British construction firms at a cost of approximately US$22,000,000, financed by British banks. Five workmen died during the construction when a segment of the structure collapsed into Guanabara Bay.

It is 13,290 metres long-8,836 metres over the water and the bridge's central span is 72 metres high in order to allow passage to the hundreds of ships that enter and leave the bay every month. It carries a daily traffic load of approximately 140,000 vehicles, which pay a toll only when entering Niteroi at about US$2.04. It has about 18 access points and eight overpasses.

Officially it is part of Federal Highway BR-101. Since 1995 it had been under the management of Ponte S.A. under a 20-year concession.