The Pont d'Aquitaine is a large

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

over the

Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – a ...

, north-west of the city of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, in

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 ...

. It forms part of the ring-road of Bordeaux and carries the A630 autoroute. It was completed in 1967 and its main span is long. The eastern and western aspects of the bridge are dramatically different. To the east there is a ridge of land which allows the roadway to enter the bridge with little or no slope. By contrast, to the west there is an area of flat land, forming part of the Medoc, which means the roadway across the bridge slopes dramatically upwards in order to gain sufficient height to enter the bridge.

History

The first bridge for the city of Bordeaux, the stone bridge, built by order of Napoleon, was completed in 1822. By the Second Empire, the bridge was already considered insufficient to allow the city to develop normally. From 1891, the studies multiplied leading in 1909, to the choice of a Transporter bridge whose construction was entrusted to the Cail-Fives-Lille. The President of the Republic,

Armand Fallières Clément Armand Fallières (; 6 November 1841 – 22 June 1931) was a French statesman who was President of France from 1906 to 1913. He was born at Mézin in the ''département'' of Lot-et-Garonne, France, where his father was clerk of th ...

, laid the foundation stone on 19 September 1910. In 1914, only the pylons were built, but

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

interrupted the works and was not resumed as that type of works was now obsolete. The studies were resumed, and in 1939 the solution was finally found. The stone bridge would be demolished and replace it with a new, sufficiently wide bridge. This idea was confirmed by the ministerial decision of 3 December 1941. Circumstances did not allow the projects execution and the worst was thus avoided. In 1949, the state, the city of Bordeaux and the communities concerned recognised that it was wiser to create a new bridge, but the choice of its location posed a major difficulty. In the spring of 1953, it was decided, to increase the roadway of the stone bridge to four lanes, which could be done without notable modifications and at a low cost. The works were quickly completed in 1954. The same year, the mayor of Bordeaux,

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''d� ...

, became Minister of Public Works and as of 13 August 1954, the decision was made in principle, to build a suspension bridge. Public Works Minister

Robert Buron Robert Buron (27 February 1910 – 28 April 1973) was a French politician and Minister of Finance from 20 January 1955 to 23 February 1955 and Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism during Charles de Gaulle's third term from 9 June 195 ...

laid the foundation stone on 20 May 1960. Beginning in 1961 the construction was spread over six years. The work was officially inaugurated on 6 May 1967, under the presidency of the Minister of Public Works of the time,

François-Xavier Ortoli François-Xavier Ortoli (; 16 February 1925 – 30 November 2007) was a French politician who served as the 5th President of the European Commission from 1973 to 1977. He served as Minister of the Economy of France from 1968 to 1969. Ortoli ...

Specifications

The Pont d'Aquitaine's central span, 393.75 m, is the second largest French suspension bridge behind the

Pont de Tancarville The Tancarville Bridge (Pont de Tancarville in French) is a suspension bridge that crosses the Seine River and connects Tancarville (Seine-Maritime) and Marais-Vernier (Eure), near Le Havre. The bridge was completed in 1959 at a cost of 9 billio ...

, remains a modest work. In 2008, it ranked 80th in the world of suspension bridges. However, it is extended on the left bank by a viaduct of 1014 m, which brings it to the 8th rank in terms of length of French bridges when all categories combined. Pont-d'Aquitaine

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aquitaine, Pont d' Suspension bridges in France Bridges completed in 1967 Transport in Bordeaux Buildings and structures in Bordeaux Bridges over the Garonne

History

Specifications

See also

References

External links