World's tallest road bridge opens in France

[bin.dare]

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2004/1214/breaking35.htm

The tallest bridge in the world has been opened by French President Jacques Chirac in the south of France.

Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the Millau motorway viaduct stretches for 2.46 kilometres between two plateaux in the Massif Central mountain range will remove one of the country's most notorious traffic bottlenecks.
Built of steel and concrete at a cost of €390 million, 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.

...

The viaduct is not only the tallest in the world - outstripping the 282-metre towers of the Akashi Kaikyo bridge in Japan - it is also the longest cable-stayed bridge. The Tatara Ohashi bridge in Japan is 1.48 kilometres long.

The highest suspension bridge in the world - measured by distance from deck to ground level - remains the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, United States, which is 320 metres above the river Arkansas

[OneBlueSky]

1. that is an AMAZING structure . . . see photos here . . .

http://www.manzonderkop.be/Post/?P_ID=5323

more info here, although the site is down right now . . . check back later . . .

http://www.viaducdemillaueiffage.com/

[robcon]

2. I saw pictures on TV today

Awesome bridge. They showed it on MSNBC with the fog that is shown in some of the photos.

As beautiful as the Golden Gate.

[bin.dare]

3. great construction photos, thanks. n/t

[Hosnon]

4. Damn I love humanity. We can go across the gap and the bridge is beautiful

[alexisfree]

5. US can use some of this projects...

for creation of jobs..but rather bush is spending for destruction..

[Gregorian]

6. That is godawful!

A total eyesore.
Have I said before that I am a mechanical engineer? I have mixed feelings about engineering. On one hand it's how we have made life more convenient. But on the other hand, it's how we've ruined the planet. Think about it- If your view was that beautiful valley, and now your view is a series of concrete abutments, I doubt you'd be so enthusiastic about the stupid structure. And all in the name of the almighty CAR. Oh well, that's progress. Progress towards a dark future. I love engineering, but I absolutely feel that there are limits. Limits that noone has paid attention to. I'm quite alone in my philosophy. It's me, a few people who see it, and some melting ice caps. Bravo for progress.

Edit- I should stop my diatribe, but I feel the need to continue. It's not just the view. It's the lack of entertainint the thought of limits. It's the continuation of raping the planet so that more cars can do more damage. The only things considered are unbridled breeding, driving, consuming. What about less? Less is not a concept anyone wants to think about, unless they see what I see. Unless they see how more is contributing to not only the deterioration of a once beautiful earth, and a quality of life that is no longer.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

7. This architect agrees with you

it is very sad we have to do things like this. We unfortunately often have to weigh needs against aesthetic benefits.


Some things never change.... (Tunkhannock Viaduct, Nicholson, Pa.) http://www.asce.org/history/brdg_thannock.html

[Gregorian]

8. Interesting perspective.

Some bits of engineering are aesthetic. And that IS subjective. I curse ninety percent of the new homes I see going in. It's partly because I feel we have surpassed our population limits, and I value nature over human housing projects. HOWEVER, on rare occasions I see a house being built that is not offensive. It's rare. My parents did it. Not a McMansion, but a tasteful oldschool house. But I love Eichler, and Wright, and the bauhaus look. Hmm. I guess it's a study in psychology.

Thanks for the link. Even if it didn't work, I can go to the home page and look around.

Here's something I ran into while looking for a piece of property on the coast of Washington state. A beautiful place right on the ocean.

[Turley]

9. Yes, those bastard French

How dare they have the audacity to want to travel to Spain by car. It's an OUTRAGE!!

Why can't they just FLY to Barca like regular folks?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

10. Excess

It's a good word. Look it up.