Pont De Normandie 1995

Pont De Normandie 1995

© T.W. van Urk

© dvoevnore

Pont de Normandie

On completion it was the world's longest cable-stayed bridge

Key Facts

Four-lane roadway with 2 pedestrian lanes

More than 19,000 tons of steel were used

184 Freyssinet cables bear the weight of the deck


Location

Between Le Havre and Honfleur

Normandy, Northern France

Carries the A29 motorway over the River Seine


Designer

Michel Virlogeux (designer)

Francois Doyelle, Charles Lavigne and Alain Montois (architects)


Description

Cable-stayed bridge

856m main span

2,143m total length


Main contractors

Joint Venture including Bouygues, Monberg & Thorsen


Construction

Began in 1989

Opened 20 January 1995


The Bridge


The Pont de Normandie (Normandy Bridge) crosses the estuary of the River Seine between Honfleur and Le Havre. When the opened in January 1995 it was the world’s longest cable-stayed bridge both by central span (856m) and total length (2,141m). The two elegant A-shaped towers rise 215m above the river.

It has revitalised the town of Le Havre and improved the east-west road connection from Calais and Amiens to Caen and Brittany.

It was designed by the renowned French engineer and bridge designer Michel Virlogeux. He has designed many other long-span bridges including the Vasco da Gama Bridge in Lisbon, and the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge in Istanbul.

© Peter H

Other long-span bridges