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Highest Bridge in the World Nearing Completion
An anonymous reader writes "A weekend cookie for all engineering geeks out here. The central span of the Millau bridge (270 meters or 886 ft) has been completed!" The photo is awesome.
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Base Jump!
Nobodies Prefect
Tidbits for Techs Technology Blog
..great, something i can stand on and pee my pants lookin off of...
im scared of heights, you insensitive clod!
I've never bungee jumped before, but that pic sure made me think about it. Damn! But I'm scared of heights...
jred
I'm not a mechanic but I play one in my garage...
Yes, I was on the news this afternoon overhere (Netherlands). It's higher than the Eifel tower (Paris, France)
Are these the same people who built the new terminal at Charles De Gaulle?
I wonder how wide those pylons are? They look like they are a decent width, but of course it's tough to tell with that perspective.
That sure is some bridge, but must be a real eyesore to those who have to live near it.
They get serious flooding in that valley.
Double Compile
Why did they build this bridge? That looks like a perfectly nice valley down there, easy to push a road through, and at 1/100th the cost and no where near the danger.
Is this a penis boast ("I've got the biggest bridge!"), an environment issue ("No automobiles in this valley!"), an ownership issue, what??
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
(See subject.)
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
..I can just see the headlines. "World's tallest bridge collapses! Engineers: 'What were we thinking?'"
Get your bungie jumping ropes and take a plane to france!!!
Just make sure you don't land at the new International Terminal. That would be dangerous
Does it run Linux?
Well, in fact, they are the same folks... 2E airport terminal was built by Vinci and Eiffage. Millau viaduc is built by Eiffage alone.
What if that thing tilts? :-o
Is there an engineering reason for it being this tall?
Because heights are the only thing the French aren't afraid of.
There's probably a sign before you drive onto the bridge that reads: "World's tallest bridge! World's highest toll!"
Double Compile
From the project site: "As a truly emblematic signature of the town whose name it carries, it will, just by its very existence, lead to economic and cultural growth."
Is it just me, or does completely bypassing a town actually hurt its economic and cultural growth?
Let's hope that Vinci is the chintzy and fewer corners were cut on the bridge then.
And if not, look at it this way, you have a better chance of flying off their bridge than out of their airport.....
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
Maybe it's a suspension vs. non-suspension thing.
-Rob
Marriage doesn't have to suck!
I mean, did they even bother to future-proof this thing so that when we reach the age of 300m high boats that it won't have to be torn down?
The height of the road surface above the water or ground below is what counts, not the fru-fru above the road surface.
o ya l.html
This old 1929 bridge in Colorado still has the Fench bridge beat, as do a few others.
http://www.micron.com/k12/lessonplans/bridges/r
Having lived in Colorado, I would like to point out this bit of information. I guess it would depend on how the bridge is measured.
Since it looks like the site is Slashdotted, I can't see all of the info. If you judge by the main span, then it looks like this new bridge may have it (886 ft compared to 880 ft). However, the Royal Gorge Bridge is 1053 ft above the Arkansas river that passes underneath it (No threat of flooding...knocks on wood).
My guess is figuring out the world's highest bridge is something akin to figuring out the world's tallest building...different opinions yeild different results. Anyway, Royal Gorge only claims the "Wolrd's Highest Suspension Bridge".
Yeah, I know... shoulda RTFA
Sorry but last I checked the Royal Gorge Bridge (in Colorado, USA) is still higher. Built in 1929 too.
1053 feet. Roughly 320.95 meters. Or 50 meters higher.
info here
I forget...are we at war with Eurasia or East Asia?
Major writeup of the project:
http://www.a75.com/viaducengl.html
How long until the first one takes a shot at this structure?
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
So now the US Navy pilots have a slalom course in Europe. Sweet!
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
Road Traffic Tech.com
They are charging about $6 per car for crossing the viaduct. If enough cars are willing to pay this rather than crawling through the valley that it pays for the project (which wasn't actually that expensive, compare USD $400 million with what some bridges over water cost) then it makes economic sense to build it. What else is needed?
I've been at Milau last summer, and I must say that bridge is quite spectacular, also the way it was built. During the dozen days I was there, you could see the daily progress they made as the cranes moved and the whole bridge was pushed across the pillars little by little. Amazing bridgebuilding technology, really.
And maybe it's not evident from the pictures, but the bridge does make some sense when you look at the landscape close-up.
And it's really big. Standing under the pillars makes it look very, very intimidating.
If you look at the picture, it looks as if there's a bit of a dip from where the camera is to the next span.
Did they screw up the alignment a bit then hack it to get it to work? How do they do that anyway?
Darwin Awards!
The road (bridges) through the Florida Keys is pretty impressive as far as length. It's not entirely a single span but overall it has that effect.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
You can see some more pictures of this project, along with some of the artist renderings of what the thing will look like when done, here.
I thought this meritted a search on Ixquick Metasearch http://www.ixquick.com
Here are my choice results on the Millau Viaduct or Bridge depending on what report you read.
http://www.bridgepros.com/projects/Millau_Viadu
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3237329
http://www.viaducdemillaueiffage.com/
N.B. This site is in heavy demand so by all means make a note of the URL to try another time / at a later date.
http://www.construction.com/NewsCenter/Headline
http://www.enerpac.com/html/press_releases/Beri
Interesting to note that Sir Norman Foster was involved in this. For more info on his work try: http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Norman_F
My hyperlinks aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
The length of this bridge is quite impressive. The longest suspension bridge on record is the Dames Point (Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge)in Jacksonville Florida that is about 2 miles long. It's span consisting of cables is only about 1/3 of the overall length (not sure how the whole bridge is considered suspension). This one apeears to be roughly 60% of the length of the Dames Point but is suspended cables the whole length. Seeing the Dames Point on a quite regular basis, I must say that one is very impressive.
Just for height comparisons, the Dames Point is about 425 feet (130m) high with the highest point over water being 175 feet (about 54m). Quite an accomplishment considering what it took to build this little thing.
at the New River Gorge bridge in West Virginia, USA. It's legal to jump off that bridge exactly one day per year (known, appropriately enough, as bridge day). It's not a bad way to introduce yourself to base jumping legally... jail time sucks.
Incidently, it's only ten feet shorter than the bridge mentioned in the article (but has a much smaller landing area... people jumping the New River Gorge bridge should have good canopy control skills... it might be tough for a rookie parachutist). The only more-difficult famous base jump landing I know of is Angel Falls... there's a tiny clearing in the jungle you have to hit, or you're in the trees.
I got invited to do my first base jump when I was a low-time skydiver (only had 13 jumps under my belt) it involved breaking-and-entering, climbing an antenna at night, jumping from said antenna, and avoiding the guy wires... needless to say, I declined. I like adrenaline as much as the next guy, but there's something to be said for living to jump another day...
Jump smart... you'll live longer.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
A spectacular crash has just accured on the newly opened Millau bridge. Witnesses report that a small car collided with a truck causing the car to flip over the side rail. The driver of the car was seen climbing out of the falling car...
--The best thing about working at home... Homebrew!
The intensity of use of this railroad corridor, and its effect on overall economic productivity of North American and Eurasian nations, changes entirely when it crosses the Bering Strait--as is now definitely technologically feasible by tunnel (Figure 2), using the two islands, (Little Diomede and Big Diomede) which lie along the Strait crossing in order to break up its total length. The long-awaited Alaska-Canada railroad corridor then becomes an extension of the northern Eurasian Land-Bridge--involving the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur lines, and the Chinese northern rail line construction extending to them--and part of the "world land-bridge."
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
From here:
The bridge has the optimum span between cable-stayed columns. It is delicate, transparent, and uses the minimum material, which makes it less costly to construct.
Why does this talk of "delicate" bridges not have me rushing to cross it? I realise there's more than one definition of the word delicate, but still.
Warning: mysql_connect(): Too many connections in /home/millau/public_html/pnadodb/drivers/adodb-mys ql.inc.php on line 170
mysql://millau1_us:@localhost/millau1_db failed to connectToo many connections
Better post this as funny :)
Drill baby drill - on Mars
The Fremont bridge in Portland is not a suspension bridge, but rather "the longest tied-arch bridge in the world"
"No Fishing From Bridge"
(seriously!)
It may be a flat valley, but the drop-offs into the valley are quite steep.
Thanks to another poster above, check out this page, particularly the photo right at the bottom. You can see how difficult it would be to get an expressway down into the valley and then back up. The page also shows the various options considered, as well as the reasons for accepting the tall viaduct.
Look at the tomato! Isn't it sad? He can't dance! Poor tomato!
Since long before I was born they have been two ten-foot-wide lanes and pedestrians are not allowed on the bridge because of the danger. Neither are trucks allowed to pass one another because there isn't enough clearance.
The nominal height of this bridge is 130 feet above the river, give or take. It's not nearly as high as the A75 but we get our share of suicide jumpers both off it and the newer, swankier, and busier Greater New Orleans Mississippi River Bridge a few miles to the south (or, as it was renamed after a contest in the 80's, the "Crescent City [not drug] Connection").
You do not get the full thrill of the Huey Long unless you're on it when a TRAIN is also on it. And you really don't get the full thrill unless you are STOPPED IN TRAFFIC while a TRAIN is passing. You see, the H.P.Long is entirely riveted together. There isn't a weld to be found in the entire structure. This means it moves -- a lot. You normally can't tell in a moving vehicle, but people have been known to get seasick in stalled traffic. Especially when a train is passing.
I'm sure the A75 will be no picnic in bad weather, but being that high in bad weather you probably won't even be able to see the ground. What I wonder about is how much the thing will move around with only seven supports and all that wind-catching area.
Being stopped on traffic might be a lot more fun than just having your car slapped around by a gale.
Brackets contain world's first nanosig, highly magnified:[.]
According to the English articles due to the steep sides of the valley cause massive traffic bottlenecks. Though if I'd owned a convenience store or gas station that was profiting from the bottlenecks I'd be irked ^_^
"Mission Accomplished" -- George W. Bush May 1, 2003
...but they missed the perfect opportunity to build the "world's tallest cloverleaf interchange".