World's Highest Bridge!
 

Has anybody seen this puppy?! It has to be one of the most amzing things I have read about as far as bridges go -- 89 stories up there at its highest span. Perfect for that ideal bungee drop... :eek:

Viaduct de Millau in France

Getting the deck on it is a feat unto itself:
"The enormous yet at the same time “light” deck is pushed by means of hydraulic launching devices on each pier, which first lift and then push the deck. An adjustable nose structure at the end of the deck, allows the deck to land on each pier as it approaches it."
Pushing the deck on

Amazing stuff!

Cool! Thanks for sharing.

Love that photo of the piers above the clouds. Any idea when work is scheduled to be finished?

Its a beautiful bridge, I'd love to drive over it. What a site to see it from a distance I'd bet.

Opens tomorrow Thursday 16 Dec 04
 

Hi,

The bridge opens tomorrow ( Thursday 16th Dec ) to traffic)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4091813.stm

Regards

TBS

I wonder how many people will try to end their life jumping from it?

Five stories up is enough to do the job. A bridge that high just gives you more timeto regret your choice.

Well, our local Golden Gate Bridge attracts about one jumper per month, so I'd guess this will bring in around one every season. It appears to be a good distance from any major population center, so that would likely keep the numbers down.

One difference -- no chance for survival with that one. There are actually 26 known survivors of GG Bridge jumps. A few years ago, one guy had no injuries whatsoever!

Well, this bridge is designed by Sir Norman Foster. Hopefully, it won't have the same problem as his last famous bridge. I was actually in London when the Millenium Bridge opened and wobbled - the London newspapers had a field day with that - and it wasn't reopened until like 18 months later.

They had a special about the "Extending" of the bridge on either Discovery Channel or The Learning Channel. Really kinda neat that they "pushed" the bridge deck to the piers from the edges at about 2 foot a push. All done with Hydraulics. Really nice to see how it was done.

It was also the "Where in the World Are You" of Conde' Nast Magazine last month. Great Picture in the Magazine.

There was a lovely picture of the bridge in yesterday's NYT. The one worry I have is that this bridge, like other famous bridges, will attract those who wish to commit suicide. :(

Launching gantries are standard technology for long bridge construction. Any FTer wanting to see one in action at the moment should fly into London City Airport where one is in use this week placing the viaduct for the railway extension to the airport. It's the yellow structure currently towering over the airport approach road. See page 5 of 9 here

A thought occured to me...
 

If you have ever driven I-10 in Looziana across the Atchafalaya Basin, you often see the shredded tires from truck flat tires along the shoulders -- the concrete wall keeps most of them from flying into & polluting the swamp underneath.

So, I am left wondering what stops that with this bridge -- and what some poor sheep looks like, 89 stories below, when a piece of the Michelin Man drops from the heavens....

Despite the hype, the world's tallest bridge remains in the US - Colorado's Royal Gorge Bridge at 1,053ft vs. the 891 ft. Millau bridge.

It is tres cool, though.

The Royal Gorge bridge is cool too, but wasn't it built as a tourist attraction? It certainly doesn't go anywhere.

The French viaduct is an actual highway bridge, the highest highway bridge in the world. I heard the project came in on time and on budget. Maybe the State of California can hire the engineers and contractors to come over and work on the replacement for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge which is now overbudget and whose design has been scrapped by the Governator's administration.

This is really cool. Next time I go over to Freedom, I want to check it out.