Béziers canal bridge
Coordinates: 43 ° 20 ′ 4 " N , 3 ° 12 ′ 46" E
| Béziers canal bridge | ||
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| Convicted | Canal du Midi | |
| Crossing of | Orb | |
| place | Beziers | |
| construction | Stone arch bridge | |
| overall length | 143.4 m | |
| width | 15 m | |
| Number of openings | 7 + 2 | |
| Longest span | 17 m | |
| Arrow height | 7 m | |
| height | 12 m | |
| start of building | 1854 | |
| completion | 1857 | |
| planner | Maguès | |
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The Béziers canal bridge ( French pont-canal de l'Orb or pont-canal de Béziers ) is a trough bridge that spans the Canal du Midi in Béziers in the Hérault department in the Occitania region over the Orb river .
description
The trough bridge itself is 143.4 m long, 15 m wide and around 12 m high. It is framed at both ends by 27.4 m long and approximately 31.5 m wide abutments . On these abutments, the canal with its wide waiting and evasive areas is narrowed in a trumpet shape to the fairway on the trough bridge. In the abutments, the two riverside paths are also carried out in 4.86 m wide arched vaults. In total, the structure is 198.2 m long.
The fairway on the bridge is 8.0 m wide and 1.95 deep at normal water levels. It is on both sides of 3.2 m wide, with elongated pebbles paved towpaths accompanied, where in strong winds two horses abreast treideln could. 1.3 m high walls form the side closure.
The shipping channel with its high weight is supported by 7 stone basket arches with 17 m span and 6 natural stone pillars that are 3.5 m thick. The towpaths are supported by arcades 2.95 m high and 1.2 m wide , the open sides of which are designed as arcades with 11 small round arches over each bridge arch. This not only resulted in a more pleasing side view of the bridge, but also significantly reduced the weight on its arches.
history
From 1681 until the opening of the Béziers canal bridge in 1857, the canal ships had to use the Orb river bed for a distance of around 800 m, which was often associated with problems due to the fluctuating water level of the small river, despite built-in damming and other improvements. Vauban had already proposed an aqueduct over the Orb, but it was not implemented as "too ambitious and too expensive".
In 1854 the Canal latéral à la Garonne (Garonne Lateral Canal) was almost finished. The continuous canal connection from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean would only have been disturbed by the crossing of the Orb in Béziers. It was therefore decided to build the canal bridge and the foundation stone was laid in October of the same year. The draftsman is Jean-Polycarpe Maguès (1777-1856), but mostly his son Urbain Maguès (1807-1876), both of whom were chief engineers of the Canal du Midi at the time.
The canal bridge is roughly in the middle of the section of the Orb that was previously used for shipping. The Canal du Midi was therefore redesigned: on the left, northern side of the Orb, the old canal mouth was closed. For this purpose, Port Neuf (New Harbor) was created between two coupling sluices , which is connected to the bridge via the aforementioned waiting and escape basin. On the right, southern side of the Orb, the bridge was connected to chamber 7 of the Fonserannes lock staircase by a 1 km long canal , so that only six chambers have been used since then. The old port of Port Notre-Dame , located below the lock staircase, can no longer be used due to modern road construction; the corresponding piece of canal is now called Canalet de Notre-Dame .
The canal bridge was built when the canal shipping industry was already feeling the competition from the new railways . The Canal du Midi was leased in 1858 to the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi , which promoted freight traffic by rail. In 1898 the canal and the canal bridge returned to the ownership and administration of the state. The canal authority Voies navigables de France (VNF) has been in charge of the canal and the canal bridge since 1992 .
The Béziers canal bridge has been a monument historique since September 22, 1996 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Marcel Prade: Ponts & Viaducs au XIX e Siècle . Brissaud, Poitiers 1988, ISBN 2-902170-59-9 , pp. 221, 222 (as far as can be seen, the only generally accessible source with a floor plan and elevations)
- ↑ On the Internet, even in serious articles, 240 m length and 28 m width are usually stated. However, these dimensions do not show any reference to the real structure, which is precisely reproduced in Google Earth.
- ↑ a b c Bernard Marrey: Les Ponts Modernes; 18 e –19 e siècles. Picard éditeur, Paris 1990, ISBN 2-7084-0401-6 , p. 242
- ↑ a b Beziers, aux origines de PP Riquet. Le Pont-Canal et le franchissement de l'Orb on canalmidi.com
- ↑ Liasse n ° 690 "Pont Canal de l'Orb à Béziers" Relation de la pose de la première pierre du pont-canal. on sudouest.vnf
- ↑ Urbain Maguès. In: Structurae
- ↑ PA34000003