Millau Viaduct Essay

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Berker Erol 1 Millau Viaduct : The Bridge in the Clouds Berker Erol 260 461 423 Architectural Structures ARCH 241 Prof. Pieter Sijpkes December 11, 2012 Berker Erol 2 Photo credit : CEVM / Foster and Partners. G. Jasmine. (http://netzero99.blogspot.ca/2012/03/millau-viaduct-francemaximum-weblink.html) The Millau Viaduct is a multiple span single-line cable-stayed bridge, famous for being the tallest bridge on earth. Its tallest pillar reaches 343 m in height above ground. (structurae.de) The Millau Bridge is located in the southern town of Millau, France and is part of the new E11 expressway which connects Paris and Barcelona. (Reed) The bridge is designed by the French engineer Michel Virlogeux, who previously worked on Normandie Bridge and the British architect Norman Foster. The construction of this unique structure was achieved in four years and costed around about 500 M$. The Millau Viaduct is built to protect the town of Millau from the cursed seasonal traffic jams. Over the past thirty years, the route connecting the northern France to the south propagated over the french country side until it stopped dead at the Tarn Valley, a valley which is 2.5 km Berker Erol 3 wide and 250 m deep. Tarn valley caused the roads to be diverted off into the city’s narrow streets which were not suited to excessive traffic. Summer in Milau was a nightmare due to long tailbacks for both the vacationers and for its inhabitants. (Megastructures) The need for a bridge became clear in the late 80s and CETE(Aix-En-Provence) started looking for possible alignments for A75 route at Millau. (Reed). Group of architects and engineers were consulted during 1993 and 1994. In 1995, a design competition was organized to shape the future of the valley. It was limited to five teams of architects, and the jury decided on the proposal by

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