| France's soaring
Millau bridge seen from orbit
3 January 2005
The Millau viaduct, newly inaugurated
by President Jacques Chirac, is now the
world's tallest road bridge. It stands
high above the Tarn valley in France's
Massif Central mountains, as seen in
this 11 December satellite image from
ESA's Proba.
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The bridge is made of a four-lane
steel-built roadway stretching across
2460 metres. At its highest the roadway
is suspended 270 metres above the Tarn
River.
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View
from the ground
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It is supported by seven concrete
pillars standing 343 metres tall,
greater than the height of the Eiffel
Tower – in fact the bridge was actually
constructed by the Eiffage construction
group, builders of that historic Paris
landmark.
Some 205 000 tonnes of concrete were
used to make its pillars and supports.
The steel decking alone weighs 36 000
tonnes – enough to make five Eiffel
Towers. Architect Sir Norman Foster
designed the Millau bridge to fulfil a
120-year warranty.
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Unfinished in March
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An earlier
Proba image acquired on 14 March shows
the bridge still unfinished –
demonstrating its rapid pace of
construction.
From both
sides of the valley, the metal sections
of the structure were assembled, lifted
and then pushed and fastened into place
on each of the supporting pillars. After
three and a half years of work the final
link was completed in May this year.
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President Chirac opening bridge
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| The bridge is part of the A75
motorway connecting Paris to the
Mediterranean, and designed to serve as
a bypass to the nearby town of Millau,
which up until now has experienced
serious summer traffic congestion. |
