Pont de Normandie
The Pont de Normandie (or Bridge of Normandy) is a cable-stayed road bridge that spans the river Seine linking Le Havre to Honfleur in Normandy, northern France. Its total length is 2143.21 m (856 m between the 2 piers).
Construction
The bridge was designed by Michel Virlogeux. The architects were François Doyelle and Charles Lavigne. Construction by Bouygues, Campenon Bernard, Dumez, Monberg & Thorson, Quillery, Sogea and Spie Batignolles began in 1988 and lasted 7 years. The bridge opened on January 20, 1995.
At that time the bridge was both the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, and had the record for the longest distance between piers for any cable-stayed bridge. It was more than 250 m longer between piers than the previous record. This record was lost in 1999 to the Tatara Bridge in Japan. Its record for length for a cable-stayed bridge was lost in 2004 to the 2883 meters of the Rio-Antirio. At the end of construction, the bridge had cost $465 million.
The cable-stayed design was chosen because it was both cheaper and more resistant to high winds than a suspension bridge.
Structure
The span, 23.60 m wide, is divided into 4 lanes for traffic and 2 lanes for pedestrians. The pylons, made of concrete, are shaped as upside-down Ys. They weigh more than 20,000 tons and are 214.77 m tall. More than 19,000 tons of steel were used and 184 cables were used.
Lodging
See the listing of the Hotels in Normandy