Three years have passed since the destruction of the Deir Ezzor suspension bridge (Al-jeser Al-moa’alaq)

Language / اللغة العربية

 

Three years have passed since the crime was carried out

 

It has been three years now since one of the historical landmark of Deir Ezzor province, the suspension bridge (Al-jeser Al-Moa’alaq), was rendered out of commission. It served as an entry route across the Euphrates River to the western section of the city of Deir Ezzor. Friends and families in Syria used to gather at the bridge to pass a good time together.

 

In 2013, the suspension bridge was destroyed due to heavy artillery shelling by the Assad forces, causing it to fall apart and eventually bringing it to a total collapse. Its pillars are the only components that remain nowadays, serving as witnesses with regard to the barbarity and brutality of the Assad-regime.

 

 

 

The youth in Deir Ezzor used to plunge into the Euphrates River from the highest top of the bridge, showing off their skills and the challenging adventure of jumping from top of the bridge into the river.

 

Memories

Most of the people in Deir Ezzor still have images they took while jumping either from the bridge or during a gathering with their families at the historical landmark. One of the habits of the people in Deir Ezzor, when the bridge was still operational, is that they used to take the bride during her weeding to pass through the bridge.

 

 

History:

 

The suspension bridge was built in 1927, under the supervision of a French engineer named Fifo, with a length of 467 meters and width of about 4.5 meters; and a height of 36 meters.

 

It is based on four bases with four pillars; each of them is 25 meters long. Only the bridge in France that matched this one in Deir Ezzor at the time.

It took six years to finish building the suspension Bridge in Deir Ezzor city, during which several people from Deir Ezzor, according to a group of elderly in the province, lost their lives after they fell into the concrete blocks carrying the bridge during the process of pouring concrete in them; their dead bodies are still inside these blocks.

In 1947, the light was installed at the bridge and since then it functioned as a crossing route for cars until 1980, which witnessed the construction of a new bridge called the bridge of al-Siyassa.

Three years have passed since the bridge was pulverized, and two years have passed after its color turned into black when Daesh took control of Deir Ezzor in 20/07/2014.

Despite all of this, the pillars of the bridge are still existing to remind everyone of the barbarism of the tyrant, Assad. They are the same pillars which remain in the heart of the people of al-Furat.