City in southern Spain set to get record-breaking megastructure with the highest bridge in Europe
The project will be a milestone in engineering due to the height of the road deck clearance above the waterway
Mar Georga
Seville
Tuesday, 14 October 2025, 15:52
Spain's Ministry of Transport has provisionally approved the construction of the SE-40 motorway bridge in Seville, work on which will begin in 2026. This is the most complex section of the SE-40 ring road, which surrounds the city in the form of a metropolitan ring, with a length of 77.6 km.
The bridge will cross the Guadalquivir river at the Dos Hermanas (A-4 South) and Palomares and Coria del Río (A-8058) section, crossing the municipalities of Dos Hermanas, Seville, Palomares del Río and Coria del Río. This will open a new transport corridor.
The SE-40 motorway bridge: an engineering challenge
The singularity of this mega-project lies in the clearance required by the Seville Port Authority. In order for the bridge to not hinder the operation of the port, its clearance cannot be less than 70.8 metres high.
The project will have to take on this technical challenge so that large transport ships can navigate the Guadalquivir river. This particular requirement will make the SE-40 bridge in Seville the highest bridge in Europe and the fourth highest in the world in terms of clearance height.
