Garabit Viaduct
| Garabit Viaduct | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Coordinates | 44°58′31″N 3°10′39″E / 44.97528°N 3.17750°E |
| Carries | railway |
| Crosses | river Truyère |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Wrought iron |
| Total length | 565 m (1,854 ft) |
| Longest span | 165 m (541 ft) |
| History | |
| Architect | Gustave Eiffel |
| Construction begin | 1882 |
| Construction end | 1884 |
| Construction cost | 3,100,000 francs |
The Garabit Viaduct (Viaduc de Garabit in French) is a railway arch bridge spanning the River Truyère near Ruynes-en-Margeride (), Cantal, France, in the mountainous Massif Central region. The bridge was constructed between 1882 and 1884 by Gustave Eiffel, with structural engineering by Maurice Koechlin, and was opened in 1885. It is 565 m (1,854 ft) in length and has a principal arch of 165 m (541 ft) span.
By the end of the 1870s Eiffel & Cie, the company formed by Gustave Eiffel in partnership with Theophile Seyrig, had an established position among the leading French engineering companies. Between 1875 and 1877 the company had built the Maria Pia Bridge over the Douro at Porto, and when it was proposed to construct a railway between Marvejols and Neussargues in the Cantal department the work of constructing a viaduct to cross the River Truyère was given to Eiffel without the usual process of competitive tendering at the recommendation of the engineers of the state Highways Department since the technical problems involved were similar to those of the Maria Pia Bridge; indeed, it was Eiffel & Cie's success with this project that had led to the proposal for a viaduct at Garabit.
Opening with a single track in November 1885, the Garabit Viaduct was 565 m (1,854 ft) long and weighed 3,587 tonnes (3,530 long tons; 3,954 short tons). Even more impressive, the actual deflection (load displacement) was measured at 8 millimetres (0.315 in), a figure precisely calculated by Eiffel. At 124 m (407 ft) above the river, the bridge was the world's highest when built. The overall project cost was 3,100,000 francs. Until 11 September 2009, one regular passenger train (in each direction) passed daily over the viaduct - a Corail route from Clermont-Ferrand to Béziers. On that date, the viaduct closed with cracks discovered in one of the foundation piles. After a safety inspection, the Garabit viaduct reopened the next month with a speed limit of 10 km/h (6 mph) for all traffic.
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