tallest bridge?

Answer 1

*Piercing the sky above the verdant hills of southern France, a roadway bridge hailed as the tallest in the world was officially inaugurated Tuesday.

Celebrated as a work of art and an object of French national pride, the Millau bridge will enable motorists to take a drive through the sky – 891 feet above the Tarn River valley for 1.6-mile stretch through France's Massif Central mountains.

Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the steel-and-concrete bridge with its streamlined diagonal suspension cables rests on seven pillars – the tallest measuring 1,122 feet, making it 53 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower.

The bridge, which has an airy and fluid appearance, was designed to have the "delicacy of a butterfly," Foster said in an interview with regional daily newspaper Midi Libre.

"A work of man must fuse with nature. The pillars had to look almost organic, like they had grown from the earth," said Foster, who also designed London's Millennium Bridge.

Colorado's Royal Gorge Bridge, towering 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River, is the world's tallest suspension bridge – but it is designed for pedestrians. The Kochertal viaduct in Germany was the highest roadway, at 607 feet, officials said.

President Jacques Chirac, surrounded by workers in hard hats, lifted a French flag covering a plaque on the bridge in the town of Millau on Tuesday. Fighter jets roared overhead, leaving a trail of red, white and blue smoke.

"This exceptional opening will go down in industrial and technological history," Chirac said, praising the bridge's designers and builders for creating "a prodigy of art and architecture – a new emblem of French civil engineering."

*The Millau Viaduct (French: le Viaduc de Millau) is a cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in southern France. Designed by English architect Norman Foster, in collaboration with French bridge engineer Michel Virlogeux, it is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one pier's summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft)—slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 38 m (125 ft) shorter than the Empire State Building. It was formally dedicated on 14 December 2004 and opened to traffic two days later.

*official name:Le Viaduc de Millau

Answer 2

France shows off tallest bridge

The bridge is 23 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower
The world's highest road bridge has been inaugurated in southern France by President Jacques Chirac.
The Millau bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains is more than 300m (984ft) high - taller even than the country's Eiffel Tower.

Answer 3

The Millau bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains is more than 300m (984ft) high - taller even than the country's Eiffel Tower.

The bridge, which opens to traffic on Thursday, was built to clear summer traffic jams around the town.

The BBC's Paris correspondent, Caroline Wyatt, says the bridge is one of the most breathtaking ever built.

She says that with its concrete and steel pillars soaring high above the morning fog in the Tarn Valley, the construction makes a spectacular sight.

Answer 4

London Bridge, London England. Brooklyn Bridge, New York

Answer 5

Here's an articled titled, "France shows off world's tallest bridge." The article further states that it is the tallest "road bridge".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4091813.stm