Millau Viaduct (Le Viaduc de Millau), France

The Millau Viaduct is presently (Feb 2011) the tallest bridge in the world. It is a cable-stayed road-bridge spanning the valley of the river Tarn. The bridge was named after the nearby village of Millau, in the department of Aveyron in the region of Midi-Pyrénées, in Southern France.

Construction on the Millau Viaduct began on 10 October 2001, and the bridge opened to traffic on 14 December, 2004, a few months after the Rio-Antirrio Bridge in Greece. It was designed by French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Sir Norman Foster.

Millau Viaduct comprises an eight-span steel roadway supported by seven concrete piers. The piers range in height from 77 meters (253 ft) to 246 meters (807 ft). Their width tapers from a base of 24.5 m (80ft) to 11 m (36 ft) at the deck. The piers each support masts that are 87 m (285 ft) tall. The six central spans between the masts measure 342 m (1,122 ft) while the outer spans are each 204 m (669 ft).

The Millau Viaduct has a total length of 2.46 km (8,071 ft). It carries a 4-lane motorway, the A75 autoroute, across the valley. The bridge was built at a cost of €394 million.

Millau Viaduct
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Creissels_et_Viaduct_de_Millau.jpg
Author: Ritchyblack


Approaching the Millau Viaduct
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2005_MillauViaduc0409.JPG
Author: Clem Rutter


Millau Viaduct at night
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Viaduc_de_Millau#mediaviewer/File:Millau_et_Viaduc.jpg
Author: Stefan Krause)

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.