Baku, October 25 (AZERTAC). Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday inaugurated a bridge crossing the Negro River, the longest bridge in the Amazon Rainforest region to date.

The 3,595-meter-long bridge is also the first to be built over a large Amazon Rainforest river. It connects the capital of Amazonas state, Manaus, to the town of Iranduba. The bridge was inaugurated on the 342nd anniversary of Manaus` founding.

Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who left office last December, also attended the inauguration ceremony.

Lula praised his successor and said the region`s people will find out, by the end of Rousseff`s term, that voting for her in the 2010 elections was worth it.

The construction of the bridge started during Lula`s second presidential term, and cost 1.099 billion reais (628 million U.S.dollars).The bridge was funded by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the state government.

The high cost of the bridge was criticized by netizens, with several arguing on Monday that the money should have been spent in other sectors, such as education.