Pont Henri IV
Coordinates: 46 ° 48 ′ 59 ″ N , 0 ° 32 ′ 21 ″ E
| Pont Henri IV | ||
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| use | Road bridge | |
| Crossing of | Vienne | |
| place | Châtellerault , Vienne department | |
| construction | Stone arch bridge | |
| overall length | 132 m | |
| width | 21.80 m | |
| Number of openings | 9 | |
| start of building | 1575 | |
| completion | 1609 | |
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The Pont Henri IV is the oldest surviving bridge over the Vienne in Châtellerault in the Vienne département in France . It bears the name of King Henri IV, who ruled when it was completed in 1609 .
description
The approximately 132 m long stone arch bridge has a horizontal roadway supported by nine almost identical arches with a clear width of 9.85 m, which rest on 4.60 m thick pillars. At both ends of the pillars, narrow, triangular pillar porches extend up to the clearly cantilevered carriageway parapet.
The bridge is 21.80 m wide. It has three lanes and wide walkways on both sides. Its western end is flanked by two mighty towers.
The basket arches, which are almost like a circular arc, are widened at both ends by so-called cornes de vache ( cow horns ). From the keystone on, a significantly wider and therefore more pronounced basket arch opens up to the narrow pillar porches, from where it runs diagonally inward to the actual bridge arch. This makes the pillars appear narrower and lighter and gives the bridge a more pleasing appearance. The reason often cited that this shape would facilitate the flow does not apply, however, because an unexpanded arch with a triangular porch covering the entire width of the pier has the same flow profile. The Pont Henri IV has probably the clearest and most elegantly shaped cornes de vache of the French bridges.
Two arches with the cornes de vache
Corne de Vache - cow horn
history
Châtellerault, which was first mentioned in a document in 952, had a wooden bridge over the Vienne from the 11th century and a stone arch bridge since the 12th century , which was partially destroyed in the Hundred Years War and later repaired several times. After the floods of 1556, King Henri II ordered the construction of a stone bridge, but with his death three years later the project was over.
In 1564, the residents of Châtellerault asked Catherine de Medici , regent for her son Charles IX , for a new stone bridge. In the same year a first draft was drawn up and a quarry was opened in 1565 and the preparatory work began, which was hampered by the effects of the Hundred Years War . The actual work began in 1575, which was due to the shortage of money for the time, the necessary maintenance of the old bridge, a change of construction management and entrepreneurs, the turmoil after the murder of Henri III up to the coronation of Henri IV and, last but not least, severe flood damage in 1599 suffered. In 1609 the work was essentially finished and the bridge opened to traffic.
The Pont Henri IV is similar in width to the Pont Neuf in Paris , built around the same time, and the Pont Neuf in Toulouse . All three were originally planned to be built with houses, which was customary at the time, or should at least remain possible, but under King Henri IV such development was not permitted on any of the bridges.