Rouen Transporter Bridge

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Coordinates: 49 ° 26 '23 "  N , 1 ° 4' 52"  E

Rouen Transporter Bridge
Rouen Transporter Bridge
The Quai Gaston-Boulet and the transporter bridge
use Pedestrians, bicycles and light vehicles
Crossing of His
place Rouen
construction Transporter bridge
width 13
Longest span 143
Clear height 51
opening September 15, 1899
planner Ferdinand Arnodin
location
Rouen Transporter Bridge (Seine-Maritime)
Rouen Transporter Bridge

The Rouen transporter bridge (1899–1940), the work of the engineer Ferdinand Arnodin , was the last bridge over the Seine before its mouth until 1940 . It allowed the river to be crossed with the help of a gondola about 700 m below the Pont Boieldieu , at the height of today's Pont Guillaume-le-Conquérant .

history

The city council of Rouen decided to build the transporter bridge on 23 September 1895 in order to improve transport links between the two banks of the Seine. At the end of the 19th century these were only connected by three bridges, including a pure railway bridge. The execution of the work and the concession for the operation were entrusted to Ferdinand Arnodin, who had already been involved in the construction of numerous civil engineering structures and who began construction in the autumn of 1897.

The transporter ferry was put into operation on September 15, 1899 without a formal inauguration. It was the second transporter bridge in Europe after the Puente de Vizcaya in Portugalete near Bilbao over the Nervión estuary. Their gondola, initially painted green and white, later painted pink, was invaluable to pedestrians, wagons and cars, especially during the First World War , as Ferdinand Arnodin waived payment for the crossing as a patriotic gesture. There are a few anecdotes about the transporter bridge: On May 5, 1912, the pilot Marcel Cavelier flew under the bridge; a swimmer jumped without taking damage on the basis of a bet from the bridge girder, which was also used by pioneers of parachuting .

Interrupted by a general overhaul from May 1926 to July 1930, operations lasted until June 9, 1940. Then French soldiers blew up the bridge to slow the advance of the German army. This destruction happened in great confusion. The navigation on the river had not been interrupted, and the collapsing bridge girder fell on a tug loaded with refugees, which sank immediately.

This building is still a landmark for the elderly residents of Rouen. In the Musée maritime de Rouen in 2007 an exhibition was held over.

technical description

The gondola. Lounge for 1st class on the right; for 2nd class left

Thanks to its generous dimensions - 143 m long, 70 m high and 51 m high  - the transporter ferry also allowed large sailing ships to sail upstream to the most remote quays of the seaport of Rouen. While it was not the longest transporter bridge in France, it offered a greater height above the mean water level of the river than its counterparts in Brest , Rochefort , Nantes and Marseille .

The structure in Rouen was one of the suspension bridges with a straight stiffening girder and anchored bracing as an extension of the bridge. The same design was used by Arnodin for the suspension ferries in Brest and Rochefort, while the supporting structures of the suspension ferries in Nantes and Marseille were cantilever girders with suspended intermediate parts. There was a catwalk on both sides of the bridge girder, one of which was open to pedestrians and allowed them to enjoy the panoramic view over the Seine and the city.

The wagon rested with rollers on two rails , which were supported by the beams of the bridge girder, and carried a gondola with an area of ​​130 m² and a load capacity of 15 t. This gondola consisted of a lane in the middle, which was flanked by two lounges - a glazed 1st class with seating and a 2nd class with only a simple roof. It was driven by a cable pull: A cable, which was anchored at both ends of the bridge girder, was deflected downwards on rollers in the carriage and wound onto a drum that was mounted on a crossbeam above the gondola. The drum was powered by two electric motors: the Rouen transporter ferry was the first to use electricity.

See also

List of suspension ferries

literature

  • Michel Croguennec: Les Cent ans du premier pont transbordeur de France . In: Bulletin des Amis des monuments rouennais . (October 1999 - September 2000).
  • Jacques Chapuis: Les Transports urbains dans l'agglomération rouennaise . In: Chemins de fer régionaux et urbains . No. 72 , ISSN  1141-7447 .
  • Jacques Sigot: La France des transbordeurs . Alan Sutton, 2005, ISBN 2-84910-262-8 .
  • Hervé Bertin: Petits trains et tramways haut-normands . Cénomane (La Vie du Rail), Le Mans 1994, ISBN 2-905596-48-1 .
  • Yvon Pailhès: Rouen: un passé toujours présent… rues, monuments, jardins, personnages. Bertout, Luneray 1994, ISBN 2-86743-219-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Hervé Bertin: Petits trains et tramways haut-normands , page 193.
  2. ↑ a b c Jacques Chapuis: Les Transports urbains dans l'agglomération rouennaise , page 38.
  3. ↑ a b c Michel CROGUENNEC: Les cent ans du premier pont transbordeur de France .
  4. ↑ Cécile-Anne Sibout: Cavelier: il l'a fait! . In: Paris-Normandy , May 8, 2009.
  5. ↑ a b Jacques Chapuis: Les Transports urbains dans l'agglomération rouennaise , page 40.
  6. ↑ Gaston Pailhès: Rouen et sa region pendant la guerre 1939-1945 , H. Defontaine, 1949; Bertout, 1993, ISBN 2-86743-180-8
  7. ↑ Le pont transbordeur de Rouen. Musée maritime, fluvial et portuaire de Rouen, archived from the original ; Retrieved January 25, 2016 (French).
  8. ↑ a b Jacques Chapuis: Les Transports urbains dans l'agglomération rouennaise , page 39.