See the Millau Viaduct Next Summer

The Millau Viaduct (or in French – “le Viaduc de Millau”) is a cable-stayed, road-bridge, crossing the valley of the river Tarn in Millau in the South of France. As it is written in the Michelin Guide, the viaduct is ‘well worth the trip.’ Opened on 14 December 2004, the Millau Viaduct is the result of British design and French engineering prowess that sets a soaring example of the bridge builder’s art.

Designed by the French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster, it is the world’s tallest bridge, with one mast’s summit at 343.0 metres (1,125 ft) above the base of the structure; that is taller than the Eiffel Tower. The viaduct is part of the A75-A71 motorway axis from Paris to Montpellier. Its construction cost approximately €400 million (£320 million). In 2006, the bridge received the award of the most outstanding structure. Strong problems with traffic on the road from Paris to Spain needed the building of the bridge across the valley near the town of Millau, especially during the summer season, with holiday traffic. The first talks were discussed in the late 80’s, and by October 1991 the decision was made to build a high crossing of the Tarn River by a special structure. In June 2000, the contest for the building was launched; It only took 3 years to build it.

Through recent years, the bridge has become an architectural triumph and an engineering success elaborated by British architects Foster and Partners, French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux, and the French construction consortium Eiffage which, as its name suggests, already traces its pedigree with the building of the Eiffel Tower and Sydney’s Opera House.

Until you actually visit the Millau Viaduct, it is impossible to grasp the huge scale. Indeed, the bridge’s deck, which carries the four lanes of the E11/A75 motorway across the valley, may not be the highest in the world; but it is nearly twice as tall as the previous European record-holders in Austria and Italy.

The bridge’s seven pylons support an 8-span steel roadway measuring 8,070 feet in length (that’s more than a third longer than the Champs Elysées in Paris) and weighing approximately 36,000 tons (five times the weight of the Eiffel Tower).

As with the Eiffel Tower, many predicted the Millau Viaduct would be a financial disaster. As of October 2010, nearly 27 million vehicles had crossed over the bridge. So far, the most significant effect of the bridge and highway it carries, has been to bring attention onto the hidden and under-appreciated region of southern France.

Visitors to the viaduct should certainly cross the bridge; the toll charge for a car is €7.90 in July, and August and €6.10 the rest of the year, which can be paid either in cash or by credit card. Visitors should also stop at the specially built viewing area of Brocuéjouls on the north side of the gorge; look for signs to the Aire du Viaduc de Millau, which is accessible from both the southbound and northbound lanes. There’s information on hand about how the viaduct was built, as well as, scale models of rival designs that lost out when the jury of experts chose Foster’s dramatic cement-and-steel “butterfly”. There’s also a splendid view of the viaduct itself, of course, which in certain weather conditions seems to be floating freely above the clouds that fill the valley beneath it.

Anyway, this trip to Millau, which was known for its traffic jams, is worth doing only for the Viaduct alone!