(As published in La Ilustración Española y Americana – 28th of May, 1876)
In No. XXX of LA ILUSTRACION from 1875, we published two engravings related to the great works carried out on the Riotinto railway by the Company of the famous mines of the same name, and in the present [issue] we complete those brief notes by providing on page 353 a view of the wharf-pier, whose completion is very near—a truly monumental work that requires a more detailed explanation.
The pier consists of two parts: the first is a wooden viaduct 236 meters long, which rests on the marsh and connects the short embankment on which the general line runs through the station esplanade with the actual pier, or rather with the iron section that begins at the high tide line. The upper level of the pier begins with three tracks: a central one, an extension of the viaduct track (which in turn is the extension of the railway reaching the Riotinto deposit over a distance of 84 kilometers), and two lateral tracks that branch off from it at the junction of the viaduct and the pier.
The lower level is independent of the upper one: it is located one meter above the highest tides and about five or six meters lower than the upper floor at the start. It is specifically intended for the Seville to Huelva railway line, currently under construction, which will enter from the right side, connecting beneath the viaduct. On this level, there is a double concentric track—a wide outer one for the Seville-Huelva trains and a narrow inner one for Riotinto. At the start of the curved section, this line splits into two tracks that continue to the end of the pier, which terminates in a large platform for mounting cranes for loading and unloading by ordinary procedures. This level is horizontal and consists of one track at the beginning and two at the end, with double rails of different gauges.
The total length of the iron pier is 581 meters, divided into three segments: 1st, straight, 183 meters; 2nd, curved, 287 meters; and 3rd, straight, 161 meters; and if the 286 meters of the viaduct are added, the total length of the pier is 818 meters. We believe the preceding information is sufficient for this extraordinary landing pier to be appreciated, as it is perhaps the most notable in Spain and even abroad.
