The Garabit viaduct (french: viaduc de Garabit) is a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...
spanning the
Truyère
The Truyère () is a river in south-western France, right tributary of the Lot. Its source is in the south-western Massif Central, north of Mende. It flows generally west through the following ''départements'' and towns:
* Lozère: Le Malzieu ...
, near
Ruynes-en-Margeride
Ruynes-en-Margeride is a commune in the Cantal department in south-central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Cantal department
The following is a list of the 246 communes of the Cantal department of France.
Intercommunaliti ...
,
Cantal
Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, in the mountainous
Massif Central
The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France.
Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,00 ...
region.
The bridge was constructed between 1882 and 1884 by
Gustave Eiffel
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...
, with
structural engineering
Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...
by
Maurice Koechlin
Maurice Koechlin (8 March 1856 – 14 January 1946) was a Franco- Swiss structural engineer from the Koechlin family.
Life
A member of the renowned Alsatian Koechlin family, he was born in Buhl, Haut-Rhin, the son of Jean Koechlin and hi ...
, and was opened in 1885. It is in length and has a principal arch of span.
Background
By the late 1870s, Eiffel & Cie, the company founded by Eiffel in partnership with
Théophile Seyrig, had established a place among the leading French engineering companies. Between 1875 and 1877, the company had built the
Maria Pia Bridge
The Maria Pia Bridge (in Portuguese ''Ponte de D. Maria Pia'', commonly known as ''Ponte de Dona Maria Pia'') is a railway bridge built in 1877, and attributed to Gustave Eiffel, situated over the Portuguese northern municipalities of Porto and V ...
over the
Douro
The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...
at
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
, and when the construction of a railway between
Marvejols
Marvejols (; oc, Maruèjols), is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France.
Its inhabitants are known as ''Marvejolais''.
Geography
The commune is located in the Massif central. The Colagne flows southward through the middle of t ...
and
Neussargues, both in
Cantal
Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint ...
, was proposed, the work of constructing a
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
to cross the Truyère was given to Eiffel without the usual process of competitive tendering. That was at the recommendation of the state engineers since the technical problems involved were similar to those of the Maria Pia Bridge. Indeed, it was Eiffel & Cie's success with that project that had led to the proposal for a viaduct at Garabit.
Design and construction
Opening with a single track in November 1885, the Garabit viaduct was long and weighed . Even more impressively, the actual
deflection
Deflection or deflexion may refer to:
Board games
* Deflection (chess), a tactic that forces an opposing chess piece to leave a square
* Khet (game), formerly ''Deflexion'', an Egyptian-themed chess-like game using lasers
Mechanics
* Deflection ...
(load displacement) was measured at , just what had been calculated by Eiffel. At above the river, the bridge was the world's highest arch bridge when it was built. The overall project cost was 3,100,000
franc
The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (Style of the French sovereign, King of the Franks) used on early France, ...
s.
Until 11 September 2009, one regular passenger train each way passed daily over the viaduct: a
Corail route from
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...
to
Béziers
Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hos ...
. On that date, the viaduct closed after cracks were discovered in one of the foundation piles. After a safety inspection, the Garabit viaduct reopened the following month, with a speed limit of 10 km/h (6 mph) for all traffic.
The design uses a
parabolic arch
A parabolic arch is an arch in the shape of a parabola.Article about parabolic arch by The Free DictionaryParabolic arch , Article about parabolic arch by The Free Dictionary accessdate: March 2, 2017 In structures, their curve represents an effi ...
.
In popular culture
In 1976, it was used to represent the condemned "Cassandra Crossing" bridge in the film ''
The Cassandra Crossing
''The Cassandra Crossing'' is a 1976 disaster thriller film directed by George Pan Cosmatos and starring Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Ava Gardner, Martin Sheen, Burt Lancaster, Lee Strasberg and O. J. Simpson about a disease-infected Swedish ...
''. In the film, the bridge is depicted as being unused and derelict for 30 or 40 years and is considered dangerous, to the extent that people living nearby moved away fearing it could collapse.
See also
*
List of bridges in France
This list of bridges in France lists bridges of particular historical, scenic, architectural or engineering interest. Road and railway bridges, viaducts, aqueducts and footbridges are included.
Historical and architectural interest bridges
{{row ...
References
*
*
*
External links
*
Garabit Viaduct on bridge-info.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garabit Viaduct
Railway bridges in France
Viaducts in France
Truss arch bridges
Bridges completed in 1885
Buildings and structures in Cantal
Gustave Eiffel's designs