World's Tallest Bridge To Open In France

[Placebo]

A bridge officially designated the tallest in the world is to be inaugurated in southern France Tuesday -- a spectacular feat of engineering that will carry motorists at 270 metres (885 feet) above the valley of the river Tarn.

Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the Millau motorway viaduct stretches for 2.46 kilometres (1.6 miles) between two plateaux in the Massif Central mountain range and when it opens Thursday will remove one of the country's most notorious traffic bottlenecks.

Built of steel and concrete at a cost of 390 million euros (520 million dollars), the bridge rests on seven pillars, one of which -- dubbed P2 -- climbs to 343 metres above ground level, making it 23 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower.



Like a taut thread pierced by a line of needles, the silhouette dominates the countryside for miles around and has been praised as a classic marriage of aesthetics and science. More than 60,000 people have already paid for tours of the construction site.

"A work of man must fuse with nature. The pillars had to look almost organic, like they had grown from the earth," Foster said in a special edition of the local newspaper Midi Libre.

"The bridge could not look as if it had been tacked onto the scenery. It had to rise out of the landscape with the delicacy of a butterfly."

full article may be found here: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041213/od_afp/francetransportbridge

[JohnKleeb]

1. There's something, I'd be afraid to fall off of

[Placebo]

4. I dunno...

might be kind of fun. ;)

[JohnKleeb]

6. heh you can't even swim if I recall

There's a story about the Bay Bridge, its a few hours north of here in coastal Maryland that some of the workmen fell off of it during construction. I love bridges, beautiful at night.

[EstimatedProphet]

16. The Bay Bridge is unnerving

I hate driving over that thing. when you look over there is NOTHING keeping you from going off the bridge but a couple guardrails. When it's windy it's seriously disturbing.

[JohnKleeb]

17. I know, isn't it?

That said, it's a beauty at night and my family always listens to Orbison's "Oh Pretty Woman" under it.

[qnr]

2. wow. That's all, just "wow" n/t

[Placebo]

3. My sentiments, exactly.

:D

[NV Whino]

5. That is one beautifull bridge! n/t

[Red State Rebel]

7. Beautiful! Same structure design as this one.

Over the Mississippi from Alton, IL to St. Louis, MO

[Placebo]

10. That's the baby bridge...

and here is its French mommy:



:D

[CanuckAmok]

20. Here's another similar one:

Not nearly as large or as beautiful as the one in France OR the one over the Mississippi, but:





It's a rail bridge for the SkyTrain, the commuter train for Vancouver BC and environs...

[Placebo]

21. That's very beautiful though!

:thumbsup:

[PittPoliSci]

8. that is just beautiful.

that's all there is to it. it looks very modern, and very magnificent.

[Endangered Specie]

9. ohhh, thats like porn to an engineer

:) :) :)

If I go to Europe, Im so going to go across it somehow, with the best digital camera I can find.

[Placebo]

24. Mmm, engineer porn...

*drools*

[Smeggy]

11. ummmm

""The bridge could not look as if it had been tacked onto the scenery. It had to rise out of the landscape with the delicacy of a butterfly.""

Um, something that has to be a mountain to look natural.

[cosmicdot]

12. "In our civilisation infrastructure is fundamental ...

Public spaces, avenues, bridges over rivers -- these are what bring men together and condition our quality of life. But there are also needs which one cannot measure, which are more spiritual," Foster said.

"Ideally passing over the bridge should allow one to 'elevate oneself.' Looking at it should provoke an emotion. Its purpose is to allow people to cross the valley without damaging the town of Millau. But it goes far beyond that," he said.

meanwhile ... Bushland America builds its infrastructure ...

[Placebo]

13. BLECH, that's depressing.

And these:



:cry:

[WindRavenX]

14. wow

:wow:
It looks so...futuristic...I want one here!!

[the Princess]

15. I Thought THIS Was the World's Tallest Bridge

This is the Royal Gorge Bridge, weat of Canon City, Colorado. It's 1,053 over the Arkansas River.

[Placebo]

18. Well according to the article...

Quote:

The highest bridge in the world -- measured by distance from deck to ground level -- remains the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, US which is 320 metres (1,053 feet) above the river Arkansas.

[CanuckAmok]

19. Metric fun:

343 metres is 1125'4".

Sorry, Colorado.

[neweurope]

22. *sigh* nothing stays the way it used to be...

It used to be very beautiful around there. Granted that the bridge looks good in itself, but I'll never forget the first time I was there, leading my horse and climbing and climbing... One more place to avoid, now. The world keeps getting smaller.

[Placebo]

23. Aww, I'm sorry.

At least your continent values preservation over economy more than we Americans do.

[name not needed]

25. I wanna piss of the side of that thing

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