Posts
On French autoroutes that's not difficult. You have to hand it to our European partners. They seem to have a number of individuals in their society who make things happen whilst maintaining a mass of ordinary people who in general are not much different from the Brits. In fact I have found with some exceptions that the Europeans are generally better behaved than the Brits and their countries are cleaner and better kept than the UK.
My final objective for this trip was a modern construction which we have all seen on TV, I'm sure.
It has been my ambition to visit The Millau Viaduct and my route was planned to pass by this way. In fact travelling to Paris from the touristy SW coast of France it is mighty difficult to avoid! But it is worth the 6Euro50 toll for the thrill of travelling over the 'highest' road bridge, and to avoid the lengthy journey along the old route through Millau and the Tarn Gorge.
The A75 Autoroute is part of the road network from Paris to the SW border between France and Spain. The usual French blurb about the magnificent road swooping through mountains and flying over gorges claims the road is marvellous. Well compared to some of the roads I have travelled on this trip the A75 is pretty tame really. But the best bit is travelling north for the first time, seeing the signs for the Millau Peage, and then coming round the RH bend, over a hill and all of a sudden there it is and you are pitched into space and looking down 1000 feet into the valley below. Approaching from the north the bridge can be seem miles away but from the south, wallop! you are on it almost without warning. But fear not, the bridge builder of France have a very good standard barrier system, which you see on all the bridges and viaducts. They fit a generous hard shoulder, a heavy truck resistant barrier, and a see-through wind deflector that stops you getting blown off. In other some other countries you get none of this, and the exposure factor is very high. In Croatia you are lucky on some roads to get a white line to stop you plunging into the valley below........
The fact that the competition for the design was won by a British company, Foster and Partners is a miracle in non-achieving British society. In the UK we cannot do anything for fear of upsetting some pressure group or other, when really the government doesn't want to spend any money on anything but supporting it particular set of voters. Sorry, switch off rant...
This is my pic, for the record. Taken from the handy viewing position, above the visitor centre.
The Tarn River cut the gorge over millions of years. You can just make out the village of Millau with the pink roofs. Light was poor on the day and I had to wait for some sun even for this shot.
For the techies, the bridge is a multiple support, cable-stayed construction built by a French consortium that included the Eiffel company, of which more later. The design by Foster was deliberately intended to look slender and light. From a distance it belies the massive construction and sheer size of the structure. The central tower for a while was the highest man-made structure in the world.
What was surprising is the fabulous visitor centre built just right by the bridge, from what looks like an old farm that was in the way of the new motorway.
Inside they have a superb display of local produce and promotion of local industry. There are numerous information films on the go and some of the original competing designs.
The centre is immaculate, brilliantly laid out and spotless.
Just up the road, 100km, the A75 comes close by the old railway line running to SW France. The signs tell you that there is an Aire with a viewing point for the Garabit Railway Viaduct. Well this bridge was built in the 1880's by Gustave Eiffel, who 10 years later went on to Build the Eiffel Tower. As it happens Eiffel was also responsible for the structure holding up the Statue of Liberty.....
The scale is difficult to imagine, but look at the boat in the river below!
Well the point of this is that the Eiffel company, famously built the iconic Eiffel Tower, founded their fame on the Garabit Viaduct, and was largely responsible for that modern icon the Millau Viaduct.
Oh, and yesterday when I did this trip, in France was Whit Monday, a national holiday and no trucks on the road, cruise control on 130kph, bliss!
End of post
2 comments:
your first pic looks like its out of the brochure! The size of these bridges is amazing.
The photos look great, its hard to believe that people can make such structures. It looks like you are enjoying your trip. Look forward to seeing you when you get back take care
Post a Comment