The Plougastel Bridge, or Albert-Louppe Bridge, is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

over the river

Élorn The Élorn (; br, Elorn) is a long river in Brittany, France. Its source is in the monts d'Arrée, north-northeast of Le Tuchenn Kador, and it then runs through several small towns such as Sizun and Landivisiau before flowing out into the roa ...

near

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

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 ...

, connecting

Plougastel-Daoulas Plougastel-Daoulas (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department, located in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Ploug ...

and

Le Relecq-Kerhuon Le Relecq-Kerhuon (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Le Relecq-Kerhuon are called in French ''Relecquois'' or ''Kerhorres''. Breton language The municipality launched ...

. Construction on the Plougastel Bridge started in 1926 and was completed on 9 October 1930. Part of it was destroyed by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

army in 1944, and shortly after was closed for repair. It was reopened after the widening and construction five years later. Between 1991 and 1994 another bridge, the

Pont de l'Iroise The is a cable-stayed bridge in Finistère, Brittany, France, which spans the Élorn river where it enters the roadstead of Brest. It carries route nationale 165, the road between Brest and Quimper, and connects Le Relecq-Kerhuon to the north with ...

, was built parallel to this bridge. Today the Plougastel carries tractor, pedestrian and bicycle traffic and is a landmark on the route of the

Paris–Brest–Paris Paris–Brest–Paris (PBP) is a long-distance cycling event. It was originally a 1,200 km () bicycle race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris in 1891. The last time it was run as a race was 1951. The most recent edition of PBP was held on 18� ...

bicycle event. The Plougastel Bridge is an

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 ...

, or has a fixed,

double deck structure A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

. The arches are composed of concrete and have a total length of around 888m. The three major spans are 188 m but sometimes said to be 186 m. The engineer who constructed the bridge was named Eugène Freyssinet, and the president of the committee managing the project was

Albert Louppe Jules Albert Louppe (6 June 1856 – 5 July 1927) was a French explosives engineer who became a politician. The Plougastel Bridge, or Albert-Louppe Bridge, near Brest in north-western France, is named after him. Life Early years Jules Alb ...

, an explosives engineer who pursued a parallel career in politics, becoming the

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

in 1921. Louppe died in 1927, one year after work on constructing the bridge finally began.

References

External links

Plougastel Bridge
Deck arch bridges Bridges in France Buildings and structures in Finistère Transport in Brittany Bridges completed in 1930 Concrete bridges Double-decker bridges {{France-bridge-struct-stub