Chords Bridge
bridge in Jerusalem, Israel
The Chords Bridge (Hebrew: גשר המיתרים, Gesher HaMeitarim), also called the Bridge of Strings or Jerusalem Light Rail Bridge, is a side-spar cable-stayed bridge in Jerusalem. The structure was designed by the Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava and is used by Jerusalem Light Rail's Red Line, which began service on August 19, 2011. Incorporated in the bridge is a glass-sided pedestrian bridge enabling pedestrians to cross from Kiryat Moshe to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. The bridge, which cost about $70 million (NIS 246 million), was inaugurated on June 25, 2008.
History
Calatrava first visited Israel for the opening of an exhibition of his works in Haifa in 1997. During that visit, he was invited to design a pedestrian bridge in Petah Tikva, which was opened in 2005. He was invited to Jerusalem by city engineer Uri Shetrit and former mayor Ehud Olmert, who, according to Calatrava, challenged him to "do the most beautiful contemporary bridge".
Construction of the Chords Bridge began in 2005, with an estimated cost of NIS 129 million, far higher than the initial forecast of NIS 80 million.
Design and symbolism
The bridge was designed to add a defining visual element to the Jerusalem "skyline" at the entrance to the city, and to carry a light rail system, expected to solve some of the city's traffic problems. For Calatrava the bridge is "also the excuse to create a major plaza, to give character and unity to this delicate place".
The public source identifies “Chords Bridge” as bridge in Jerusalem, Israel. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Chords, Bridge and bridge.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1057872. Authority coordinates are 31.789, 35.200. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 2008, 1997 and 2005.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chords Bridge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.