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.

Comments

Two Words

[toygeek]

Base Jump!

bungee!!!

[jred]

I've never bungee jumped before, but that pic sure made me think about it. Damn! But I'm scared of heights...

Lowest Bidder

[TheOldFart]

Are these the same people who built the new terminal at Charles De Gaulle?

Re:Lowest Bidder

[rilister]

no, but the architect is Sir Norman Foster of Foster and Partners, responsible for the Millenium Footbridge in London that had to be closed after it was found to be dangerous... ...I'll follow you over...

Re:Lowest Bidder

[misterpies]

Double inaccuracy... first of all, the millenium bridge was by Lord Foster, not Sir Foster (if you think such details are irrelevant, try talking about Congressman Kerry and Prime Minister Bush). And secondly, it was never found to be dangerous. It was closed temporarily when it was found to sway several feet from side to side under heavy foot traffic due to an unforeseen resonance at around the frequency of human walking. (Frankly, this was the falt of the engineers more than the architect.) This was fixed by adding a few dampers and now it's perfectly steady.

Re:Lowest Bidder

[kfg]

Bush was never a Prime Minister, AFAK...

But if he were it would be improper to call him President Bush in anything other than the past tense.

Jimmy Carter is "President" Carter only when refering to a time when he was the actual sitting President, and contemporaneously he may be properly refered to as "Former President" Carter or addressed as "Mr." Carter.

Nevermind the fact that "President" and "Prime Misister" are actually the names of the offices, not a title, and the forms are different. To take something of an extreme example it would be improper to address Wendy Carlos as "Mr.".

If one did address Ms. Carlos as Mr. or "The former Mr. Carlos" it would likely be taken as a delibate slight at his current status.

So too, for addressing Lord Norman Foster as the "Former Sir." Without contextual qualifications it implies an impuning of his right to be a Lord.

misterpies made a double error of his own, however. There is not, and never was either a Sir or Lord Foster. The title attaches to the name of the recipient, not the recipient's father.

Thus it is Sir/Lord Norman, or Sir/Lord Norman Foster, but never Sir/Lord Foster (Just as Churchill was Lord Randolph).

KFG

Pylons...

[th1ckasabr1ck]

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.

Re:Pylons...

[Anonymous Coward]

Pylons? You probably mean the pillars. There are seven, each with a different height, owing to ground elevation differences:

1. P1 : 94,50 m
2. P2 : 244,96 m
3. P3 : 221,05 m
4. P4 : 144,21 m
5. P5 : 136,42 m
6. P6 : 111,94 m
7. P7 : 77,56 m

There are also seven temporary pillars, soon to be removed. The central core, north, is 717m, and wings are about 670m. At south, the central core is 1744m, with wings 1573m.

The motorway is two lanes wide in each direction with a three-metre wide hard shoulder on each side and a one-metre wide bande dérasée next to the central crash barrier.

And for all you Americans joking about the terminal collapse, consider that in France, bridges are built. In America, bridges are burned--figuratively, of course, since the terrorists have not (yet) taken down your tallest bridges. Give them time, or peace be with you.

try this website

[werdnapk]

The posted site seems to be /.'ed already, try this one out instead.

That sure is some bridge, but must be a real eyesore to those who have to live near it.

Re:try this website

[Anonymous Coward]

I drove through Millau a few weeks ago, and it is one mother-hubbard of a bridge. I didn't know it was the tallest. Millau is a really bad bottleneck and the existing road is strangled by the lorries which must use it.

Yes it does rather look "stuck-on" to the scenery. I'm not sure why they couldn't just build a by-pass folowing the contours rather than the whopping bridge. That's my tax money paying for that.

Re:What's the use?

[PHP Wolf]

What's the use of having a bridge that is that high? Just seems like a serious waste of resources just for bragging rights.

They get serious flooding in that valley.

Er... why?

[FFFish]

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??

Re:Er... why?

[Anonymous Coward]

They built it because every summer thousands of cars get stuck in Millau while traveling from north to south.

Re:Er... why?

[ThisIsFred]

Mod parent up!

From the site:

"Eiffage was selected to carry out this project combining the techniques of concrete with those of steel.

Constituting the last stretch of the A75 motorway, once opened it will enable Clermont-Ferrand to be reached directly from Béziers, so getting rid of the infamous Millau traffic bottleneck."

Re:Er... why?

[Chairboy]

Because the german army hates to march up and down hills, of course.

Re:Er... why?

[bobbyque]

For the same reason people build smokestacks...to lift pollution out of a valley. That's the Rhone Valley down there: "Millau's 20,000 residents can also breathe easier--literally--since the bridge opening will put an end to decades of environmental damage caused by the endless lines of vehicles and traffic jams." (http://www.pobonline.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/c overstory/BNPCoverStoryItem/0,2340,108886,00.html)

Re:Er... why?

[k98sven]

But doesn't it seem more fitting to computer geeks if the road to Béziers is curved?

Re:Er... why?

[ElGanzoLoco]

IIRC, a LOT of trucks take that road every year, so building a road around Millau still solves just part of the problem: it will be a lot easier and faster for everyone to just take a straight line rather than going down in the valley, through the valley, and up again. IIRC, they claim the trips will be 1 to 2 hours shorter thanks to the bridge -that's less time on the road, therefore safer overall, less pollution etc...

This is an entirely private project, the french govt didn't want to pay for it. That's bad for the drivers though, who will have to pay a lot of money to cross the bridge.

Engineering Geeks?

[pipingguy]

Does it run Linux?

Re:Timmmmmberrrr...

[fluce]

Well, in fact, they are the same folks... 2E airport terminal was built by Vinci and Eiffage. Millau viaduc is built by Eiffage alone.

Funding?

[PHP Wolf]

There's probably a sign before you drive onto the bridge that reads: "World's tallest bridge! World's highest toll!"

Re:Funding?

[ThisIsFred]

Well at least you get to see a unique engineering masterpiece for your money. Think of what you get to see for a $2 toll on the Jersey Turnpike. And what's worse when the trip is over, you're in New Jersey.

My favorite part

[bobbabemagnet]

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?

Re:My favorite part

[bobbabemagnet]

The pictures may be misleading, but there aren't exactly offramps into the town. So:

1.) There is less traffic going through the town, less of a need to stop in the town, and it is harder to stop in town.

2.) It has never been about tourism for Millau. the town is in the way, and the bridge serves to get people from one big city to the coast, circumventing Millau.

In a nutshell "We're Millau. We built a huge freaking bridge that goes around our city so people don't have to drive through here any more. Come visit us!"

Highest Bridge?

[lpangelrob2]

Does this one not count? That one's 1,053 ft.

Maybe it's a suspension vs. non-suspension thing.

Re:Highest Bridge?

[prockcore]

This one is taller, from the article:

with suspension cables added will be 343 metres (1,132 feet) above ground at its highest point

Re:Highest Bridge?

[Jeffrey Baker]

I think the point is not the depth of the hole under the roadway, but the height of the piers.

Is it a draw bridge?

[pergamon]

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?

Highest? Royal Gorge?

[betis70]

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

Even more awesomer

[blair1q]

Major writeup of the project:

http://www.a75.com/viaducengl.html

Re:Star Wars...

[carlos_benj]

So now the US Navy pilots have a slalom course in Europe. Sweet!

More info on the bridge and Valley

[King_Pickle]

Road Traffic Tech.com

It's quite a sight

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

How do they get the ends to meet?

[mveloso]

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?

Re:How do they get the ends to meet?

[King_Pickle]

The road will have two lanes (3.50m each) on each side and will run at about 270m above the river Tarn. The Millau Viaduct will not be straight. A straight road could induce a sensation of floating for drivers. A slight curve will remedy that. The curve will be of 20km in range. Moreover, the road will have a light hill of 3% to improve the visibility and reassure the driver. A 3m wide emergency lane will bring increased security. It will, in particular, prevent drivers from seeing the valley from the viaduct. As the bridge will be exposed to winds of up to 151km/h, side screens will reduce the effects of the wind by 50%. The speed of the wind at the level of the road will therefore reflect to speed of the wind found at ground level around Larzac and Sauveterre.

From http://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/projects/mil lau_viaduct/

More pictures

[rufey]

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.

Check out bridge day

[The Tyro]

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.

Re:Check out bridge day

[That's Unpossible!]

Jump smart... you'll live longer.

Don't jump.

You'll live even longer.

Re:Biggest/Tallest/Most/Best Terror Targets

[fiannaFailMan]

Are we looking at yet another awe inspiring structure to be on a terrorists list of possible targets?

Quite right. Let's stop building bridges, tall buildings (the Pentagon wasn't tall, but hey) and other big things that might be hit by terrorists. In fact let's just stay indoors, lock the door and don't move.

Re:Biggest/Tallest/Most/Best Terror Targets

[dumdeedum]

In fact let's just stay indoors, lock the door and don't move.

Your rhetoric has no power on Slashdot.

Re:why did they build it this way?

[debest]

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.

As bad as the Huey P. Long?

[localroger]

The Huey P. Long bridge over the Mississippi River just north of New Orleans is actually a railroad bridge. As an afterthought, the architects added vehicular lanes which are bolted on to the superstructure to either side of the actual train lane. Originally in the 1930's these vehicular lanes were single-lane with a generous clearance and sidewalk for pedestrians.

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.