Millau Viaduct : Tallest Vehicular Bridge in the World

By Assam on July 26, 2008

The Millau Viaduct is a large cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in southern France. It is the Tallest Vehicular Bridge in the World, with one mast’s summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft), which is slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 38 m (125 ft) shorter than the Empire State Building. Millau Viaduct’s total length is 2,460 m (8,071 ft) and the width is 32 m (105 ft).

Millau Viaduct

The Millau Viaduct was designed by the structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster. The viaduct is part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Béziers and contains 4 lanes. The Millau Viaduct consists of an eight-span steel roadway supported by seven concrete pylons.

Construction of the Millau Viaduct began on 10 October 2001 and was intended to take three years. But weather conditions put work on the bridge behind schedule. A revised schedule aimed for the bridge to be opened in January 2005. Then the viaduct was inaugurated by President Chirac on 14 December 2004 to open for traffic on 16 December, several weeks ahead of the revised schedule.

The bridge’s construction cost up to €394 million, with a toll plaza 6 km (3.7 mi) north of the viaduct costing an additional €20 million. The builders, Eiffage, financed the construction in return for a concession to collect the tolls for 75 years, until 2080. However, if the concession is very profitable, the French government can assume control of the bridge in 2044.

The Millau Viaduct project required about 127,000 cubic metres (166,000 cu yd) of concrete, 19,000 metric tons (21,000 short tons) of steel for the reinforced concrete, and 5,000 metric tons (5,500 short tons) of pre-stressed steel for the cables and shrouds. The builder claims that the bridge’s lifetime will be at least 120 years.

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