Pont Mirabeau

Pont Mirabeau
use	Road bridge
Crossing of	His
place	Paris , Île-de-France , France
construction	Steel arch bridge
overall length	173 m
width	20 m
height	15 m
start of building	1893
completion	1896
planner	Paul Rabel , Jean Résal , Amédée Alby
	location

48.846388888889 2.2763888888889Coordinates: 48 ° 50 ′ 47 " N , 2 ° 16 ′ 35" E

The Pont Mirabeau is a Parisian bridge that was built between 1893 and 1896. It has been classified as a Monument historique since April 29, 1975 .

location

The bridge spans the Seine between the 15th and 16th arrondissements of Paris. It connects the rue de la Convention, which opens into a roundabout, on the left bank with the Place de Barcelone and rue de Rémusat on the right bank. Located upstream of the left bank Javel Station , which from the RER C line is approached. Not far from the bridge are the Mirabeau and Javel - André Citroën stations on Métrolinie 10 .

From the bridge you have a good view to the east in the direction of the Île aux Cygnes with one of the four Parisian statues of freedom and the Eiffel Tower .

history

Paul Rabel

The French President Sadi Carnot decided on January 12, 1893 to build a new bridge next to the intersection of Avenue de Versailles and Rue Mirabeau . It was designed by engineer Paul Rabel , who was responsible for the construction of all Paris bridges at the time. He received support from the engineers Jean Résal and Amédée Alby . The necessary construction work was carried out by Daydé & Pillé .

architecture

Two statues of the Pont Mirabeau

The span of the main arch is 93 meters, that of the two side arches 32.4 meters. While the western arch spans a road running close to the bank, the eastern arch extends over a pier and extends a railway overpass for the RER line. At the time of its construction, the bridge had the largest existing length-to-height ratio of 16: 1. The length of the bridge is 173 meters, the width 20 meters, with the carriageway leading over 12 meters and the two adjacent sidewalks each 4 meters wide.

The two bridge piers are ship-shaped and only protrude just above the Seine. They are decorated with four allegorical statues by Jean-Antoine Injalbert : the city of Paris (bow of the boat on the right bank), shipping (stern), abundance (bow on the left) and commerce (stern). The two allegories on the bow ( Paris and Abundance ) look out over the Seine, while the two allegories on the stern ( shipping and trade ) face the bridge.

The four statues are surmounted by the coat of arms of the city of Paris at the height of the parapet .

At the western end of the bridge you can descend two flights of stairs (downstream and upstream) to the embankment, while two ramps lead down to the Port Autonome de Paris on the east bank .

In art and the media

Bronze plaque with the poem Le Pont Mirabeau by Guillaume Apollinaire

Le Pont Mirabeau is the name of a poem by Guillaume Apollinaire from the Alcools poetry collection.
This poem has been set to music several times by singers. The performers include Léo Ferré (1953), Marc Lavoine (2001) and the group Chanson plus bifluorée (2011). Serge Reggiani suggested a reading of his own. Georges Brassens refers to the poem in his chanson Les Ricochets . There is also a chorale version by Quebec singer and composer Lionel Daunais .
Thomas Fersen wrote a piece called Pont Mirabeau , which can be found on the album Les ronds de carotte .
In the episode Les eaux troubles de Javel of the third season of the TV series Nestor Burma , a corpse is fished out of the water at the bridge.
It is believed that Paul Celan committed suicide on the night of April 19-20, 1970 by throwing himself off this bridge.

Web links

Commons : Pont Mirabeau - collection of images, videos and audio files

Pont Mirabeau. In: Structurae
Pont Mirabeau on the Paris website ( Memento of 7 August 2013 in the Internet Archive )
Historical photos of the bridge at Gallica

Remarks

↑ entry no. PA00086659 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French).
↑ who was appointed officer of the Legion of Honor during the inauguration
↑ Alain Suied: Paul Celan and the Pont Mirabeau. Esprits Nomades, March 20, 2009, accessed June 27, 2013 (French).

Position of the bridge on the Seine
Downstream: Pont du Garigliano		Upstream: Pont de Grenelle

[1] try no. PA00086659 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French).

[2] who was appointed officer of the Legion of Honor during the inauguration

[3] Alain Suied: Paul Celan and the Pont Mirabeau. Esprits Nomades, March 20, 2009, accessed June 27, 2013 (French).