Between 1897 and 1898 there was some concern by technicians about the integrity of the bridge; its width, the interruption of principal beams, its lightweight structure resulted in an elastic nature. In 1890, in Ovar, the "Oficina de Obras Metálicas" ("Metal Works Office") existed to support the work to reinforce and repair those structures. As a consequence, restrictions were placed on transit over the structure between 1900 and 1906: weight limited to 14 tons per lane and velocity to per hour. Alterations to the deck of the bridge were performed under the initiatives of Xavier Cordeiro in 1900. These were followed between 1901 and 1906 by improvements to the triangular beams were performed by the Oficina of Ovar. Consulting with a specialist in metallic structures (the French engineer Manet Rabut) in 1907, the Oficina concluded that the arch and the works performed on the bridge were sufficient to allow circulation. But, this did not impede further work on the fore- and aft-structural members to make the bridge more accessible and to reinforce the main pillars.