Ponte de Sebastião (After Esposende)

[AJGuillaume]

I read in the Camino Portuguese FB group that the Ponte de Sebastião over the river Neiva (after Esposende and before Castelo do Neiva) has been washed out.
Not sure whether it will be replaced by the time we walk there mid-July.
I am assuming that there may be signs for a detour?

 

[PK Smit]

Apparently there is a well marked by-pass so do not worry to much

 

[Swillbos]

Having been there around a week ago (i) I can confirm that the bridge is still well and truly ruptured with no chance of crossing on foot at the moment and no sign of imminent repair (ii) not only was no obvious diversionary signage in place, that same afternoon we met a fellow pilgrim who got lost along the Senda Littoral at around the same point. On the plus side I can confirm that the walk to the bridge is hauntingly beautiful, the return journey back to the main road, almost as pretty....

 

[David Tallan]

Having been there around a week ago (i) I can confirm that the bridge is still well and truly ruptured with no chance of crossing on foot at the moment and no sign of imminent repair (ii) not only was no obvious diversionary signage in place, that same afternoon we met a fellow pilgrim who got lost along the Senda Littoral at around the same point. On the plus side I can confirm that the walk to the bridge is hauntingly beautiful, the return journey back to the main road, almost as pretty....

So, with no signage in place and people getting lost, can you tell us what is the correct way to proceed until we hear that the bridge is fixed?

 

[Swillbos]

I am not sure what the issues are with signage on the Littoral, our fellow traveller found an alternative river crossing, but got lost on the beach nonetheless. We came unstuck on the Coastal Route - in the event we used the Trail Smart app to circumvent the bridge by backtracking to the N13 and then by road to Castelo do Neiva.

My preferred method of navigation on the Caminho was to place faith in physical signage and the kindness of strangers. This worked fine for the most part - however there were a number of occasions when GPS assistance was a great help as a backup. We actually met a immensely kind agricultural worker in Marinhas, who gave us an animated account of the local terrain. My Portuguese was just about good enough to pick up the words "bridge"/ponte and "flood"/inundacao but ultimately useless as I had no idea where or what he was talking about!!! With the benefit of hindsight, it almost certainly was the same bridge.....I am still smiling at the memory of our chance conversation and even though we were unable to benefit as he might have hoped, I still enjoyed the indirect route

 

[AJGuillaume]

The Caminho Português da Costa FB page published a advice about the detour on 28 December 2019, with photos:

https://www.facebook.com/CaminhoPortuguesdaCosta/posts/538989320022842

It looks like the detour is along the river towards the coast, and the crossing is on a new bridge on the Ecovia do Litoral.

If you are a member of the FB Caminho Portuguese Pilgrims group, you may have also seen the photos published on 9 January:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2747530578616112&set=p.2747530578616112&type=3&theater

We're walking in July, so I'll give an update when we get there.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Ola, thanks.
Now would someone please clarify which ponte/bridge you all are referring too?? I have Saint Brierley 2020 Edition pages 208/09/10. He shows two routes, the inland one with a crossing at 3.6 Ponte (after Belinho) and another one at 6.1 (brown) on the litoral (real coastal) route. If its the "blue" one then there is a road bridge with a bit of back tracking (NW) to pick up the trail at Igerja (km 1.8). There does not appear to be an alternate for the litoral route.
A pilgrims life is filled with extra choices??

 

[AJGuillaume]

I started this thread about the Ponte de Sebastião, which is on the coastal route, after Esposende and before Viana do Castelo.
I don't have the Brierley guide, but it would be the bridge after Belinho. It is a pedestrian stone bridge.
The Ecovia do Litoral Norte Bridge is fairly recent, and I am not sure it would appear in any printed guide.
If the Igerja you are referring to is on the N13 road, you may wish to avoid this, as I have heard that the N13 is a busy road with no sidewalk.
Hopefully someone with a copy of Brierley might help with the references.

 

[jsalt]

Ola, thanks.
Now would someone please clarify which ponte/bridge you all are referring too?? I have Saint Brierley 2020 Edition pages 208/09/10. He shows two routes, the inland one with a crossing at 3.6 Ponte (after Belinho) and another one at 6.1 (brown) on the litoral (real coastal) route. If its the "blue" one then there is a road bridge with a bit of back tracking (NW) to pick up the trail at Igerja (km 1.8). There does not appear to be an alternate for the litoral route.
A pilgrims life is filled with extra choices??

3.6 Ponte is the same bridge as Ponte 6.1.
The two trails come together at the bridge, cross the bridge together (I mean, DID cross the bridge together ), and immediately separate again on the other side of the bridge.