France 'completes' tallest bridge

BBC ^ | 5/30/04 | BBC

[freedom44]

Construction workers in southern France have connected the last link in the world's highest road bridge. The bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains will carry vehicles across a 2.5km (1.5 miles) valley at a height of 270m (885ft).

When finished, the highest pillar will stand at just over 340m (1,115ft) tall.

The Millau bridge is expected to open for traffic by the end of the year, completing a new motorway link between Paris and the Mediterranean.

Once its pylons and giant suspension cables are in place, the structure will be higher than the Eiffel Tower, which reaches 343m.

'Heroic and extraordinary'

Workers on either side of the bridge shook hands and opened bottles of champagne after the final section was lowered into place on Friday afternoon, AFP news agency reported.

It is being constructed by Eiffage, the company that built the Eiffel Tower, and will have taken three-and-a-half years to complete.

The company has shouldered the 260m euro construction cost ($300m) in return for the right to collect receipts from a bridge toll for 75 years.

Like Concorde and the Channel Tunnel, the bridge is Franco-British. The world-renowned architect Norman Foster is behind the design.

"I think it's heroic, it's extraordinary," he told BBC News Online after a visit to the site late last year.

"To have discussions, conversations, studies and models and then to see that being translated into reality in this landscape is an extraordinary experience and I think it touches everyone."

The project was due to take three years, but weather conditions put work on the bridge behind schedule.

The heat wave over last year's summer meant some of the welding could not be done, and over the previous winter it was so cold some work had to be halted.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

I wonder why they didn't call it the Charles de Gaul Bridge?

[yarddog]

I remember a few years ago on the evening news they mentioned that a flood had destroyed 11 bridges across a French river. The only bridge to survive was built by the Romans. So much for French engineering.

I wonder if that is the one which survived?

[RGSpincich]

$300m isn't bad. They got their steel before that market went bonkers and they don't have red legged frogs or whip snakes.

[DefCon]

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel connecting Virginia Beach/Norfolk to Virginia's Eastern Shore
Total Length (including approach roads): 23 miles
Depth of water along Route: 25 to 100 feet
Designated "One of Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World" in 1965
Total Cost: $450,000,000 in revenue bonds. No tax dollars were used.

Construction Features:
12 miles of low-level trestle, 2 mile-long tunnels, 2 bridges,
2 miles of causeway, 4 10-acre manmade islands and 5-1/2 miles of approach roads.

[Condor51]

Not that I distrust French Engineering... BUT I get the feeling it will wind up like the Tacoma Narrows bridge;

"The bridge was an unusually light design, and, as engineers discovered, peculiarly sensitive to high winds. Rather than resist them, as most bridges do, the Tacoma Narrows tended to sway and vibrate. On November 7 (1940), in a 40-mile-per-hour wind, the center span began to sway, then twist. The combined force of the winds and internal stress was too great for the bridge, and it self-destructed."

[rang1995]

Mon ami's we have to no build roads thru the GREAT FRENCH DAIRY FARMS, with ze great FRENch Cows zat make ze great french CHEEEEESEEE...Walla no destroyed cows or farms just a little bridge over them!

[Bernard]

To get to the other side. Building a normal bridge would have required tearing up more land. And a crash would not be so spectacular, whether it comes from a traffic accident or a terrorist attack. Very French.

[sharktrager]

I wouldn't drive on that thing for less than $100,000.

[varon]

I hope it's sturdier than their airport terminals.

ROFLMAO

[WestCoastGal]

George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac were relaxing in a Parisian sauna. Suddenly, there was a distinct beeping sound.

President Bush pressed his forearm with his thumb & the beeping stopped. The others looked curiously at him. "Oh, that was just my pager", said George. "I have a microchip embedded under the skin of my forearm."

Two minutes later, the silence was broken by the sound of a phone ringing. Tony Blair lifted the palm of his hand to his ear & the ringing stopped. The Prime Minister explained, "That was my cell phone, chaps. I have a telecom chip implanted in the palm of my hand.

"By this time, French president Jacques Chirac was feeling sort of low-tech. Without saying anything, he quickly scooted out of the sauna, but returned momentarily. When he returned, Bush and Blair both stared at him increduously. It appeared that a long piece of toilet paper was dangling from the Frenchman's posterior. When Jacques saw that he had the attention of the other two men, he feigned astonishment: "Marie sainte! I'm think I'm getting a fax."

[ChefKeith]

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!

That is funny, that made My morning.

[Polycarp IV]

[TC Rider]

Wow, that'll cut hours off the next German invasion.

[Lady Jag]

Oh, yeah, France made the bridge high alright...problem is, they haven't even mastered grammar yet:
know what I mean? Nudge, nudge, wink, ink?

[Publius6961]

In deference to common sense I will refrain from saying the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this article.

[LPDen]

Point taken. I agree that government spending on massive highway projects is wrong. But the fact that highway construction should be privately funded by privately owned companies shouldn't overshadow an intellectual achievement of this magnitude.As I am unaware of the specific economic and political pressures that were in play in France to spur the construction of this particular edifice,I only comment on the achievement itself.

[yankeedame]

Like Concorde and the Channel Tunnel, the bridge is Franco-British. The world-renowned architect Norman Foster is behind the design.

"I think it's heroic, it's extraordinary," he told BBC News Online after a visit to the site late last year.
==================

LOL! Well of course he would. He designed the thing

[Major_Risktaker]

That's quite a bridge crossing the little
creek. what was the purpose for such as monstrosity?

Nice Platform.

The Frogs needed American Help to jump the valley.

The deck of what is going to be the world’s highest bridge is being launched over the Tarn valley, in the South of France, with hydraulic technology from Enerpac, a US multinational that specializes in Hydraulic System Integration for large-scale construction projects.

[TeleStraightShooter]

Lol!

[HighWheeler]

That is the SLOWEST link on the entire Internet. Must be French