Viaduc de la Méditerranée
Coordinates: 45 ° 35 ′ 36 ″ N , 4 ° 47 ′ 5 ″ E
| Viaduc de la Méditerranée | ||
|---|---|---|
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| use | Railway bridge | |
| Crossing of | Rhône | |
| place | Ternay - Grigny | |
| construction | Reinforced concrete - arch bridge | |
| Longest span | 124 m | |
| start of building | 1945 | |
| completion | 1950 | |
| planner | Nicolas Esquillan | |
| location | ||
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The Viaduc de la Méditerranée is a double-track railway bridge over the Rhône south of Lyon on the route from Lyon to the Mediterranean . The two railway lines Moret-Veneux-les-Sablons-Lyon and Givors-Canal-Grezan run over the bridge . There are important, double-track branches on both sides of the bridge. The one on the north bank separates the rail route in the direction of Lyon and the Givors station closest to the bridge.
Cast iron bridge (1856–1944)
The first bridge was opened in 1856 as part of the construction of the line from Lyon to Avignon by the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Lyon à la Méditerranée (LM), which one year later in the Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) rose.
The arch bridge crossed the Rhône with five wide-span segment arches made of bolted cast-iron arch sections and built-in parts for the elevation of the deck girder. The arches had a span of approx. 40 m. This type of bridge was first used in 1850 on the Nevers railway bridge and the Tarascon – Beaucaire railway bridge , which was around the same time , and then became widespread in France.
Before the First World War, thought was given to replacing the bridge with a half-timbered construction because of the heavier locomotives . In 1924, however, they contented themselves with reinforcing the cast iron arches with reinforced concrete inserts and steel framework connections inside. This handled the traffic until the bridge was partially destroyed in the bombings of 1944 in World War II . With a temporary Eiffel bridge installed in 1945, single-track traffic was maintained.
Concrete Arch Bridge (1950)
The current bridge is a reinforced concrete - arch bridge with a span of 124 m in the main hole and at half the height arranged roadway. The two arches are hollow boxes that are only connected and stiffened by two cross struts above the roadway. They use the reinforced piers of the old bridge as an abutment . The carriageway girder consists of a 20 cm thick reinforced concrete slab reinforced with longitudinal and transverse ribs with a 40 cm thick ballasted superstructure. It hangs from the arches with 16 steel hangers clad with concrete. The structural engineer was Nicolas Esquillan .
On both sides of the main opening there is an arched bridge with an overhead carriageway and a span of 36 m. They used to bridge the edge of the river. Since the banks were pulled up to the abutments, they only bridge the river landscape. There is also a small opening for a dirt road on the southern side.
The entire bridge structure is approx. 254 m long. The frequently found information that the bridge is 196 m long is based on the addition of the spans without including the bridge abutments and the culvert.
When the new bridge was built, the old bridge served as a support for the falsework . Construction was carried out while the trains continued to pass over the old bridge.
When it opened, the Viaduc de la Méditerranée was the widest of all railway bridges with a concrete arch with a suspended track.
Web links
- Historic photo of the cast iron bridge on Patrimoine.rhonealpes.fr
- Historic photo of the construction of the new bridge on panoramio.com
- Historical photos of the old and the new bridge
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Pont ferroviaire dit viaduc de la Méditerranée ... (first bridge). On the Patrimoine de Rhône-Alpes.
- ↑ a b c Pont ferroviaire dit viaduc de la Méditerranée ... (second, current bridge). On the Patrimoine de Rhône-Alpes.
- ↑ Length measurement in Google Earth