1. Home
  2. News & Issues
  3. Urban Legends
World's Highest Bridge
Netlore Archive:  Emailed photo of the world's highest bridge, the Millau Viaduct in southern France

Description:  Emailed image
Circulating since:  Sep 2005
Status:  Authentic
Analysis:  See below
 

Email example contributed by C. Puhlman, 1 October 2005:

Subject: Cool Bridge - WOW!

Open to FULL SCREEN.......... You won't believe your eyes!!! What engineering!!

There was a really good documentary on the construction of this on Discovery or TLC a month or so ago. It's located in southern France, and is the highest bridge in the world. See: http://bridgepros.com/projects/Millau_Viaduct/ for details of location and construction. It is a truly amazing piece of engineering, especially considering the method used to span the distance between the piers. BTW the red towers you see in the photo were removed following completion of the bridge.

Be sure to maximize your screen for this.

They haven't printed enough money to pay me to drive across this bridge!!

Emailed photo of the world's highest bridge, the Millau Viaduct in southern France
Click to Enlarge


Comments:  True. What you see in the composite image above is a panoramic view of the Millau Viaduct (Viaduc de Millau), a cable-stayed bridge spanning the Tarn River in southern France. Standing 1,118 feet high at its loftiest point, it is indeed the tallest bridge in the world.

Shown above while still under construction, the Millau Bridge was completed ahead of schedule and officially opened to traffic in December 2004.

Sources and further reading:

France Shows Off Tallest Bridge
BBC News, 14 December 2004

Millau Bridge
Description and images from Foster and Parners, architects

Millau Viaduct - France - Cable-Stayed Bridge
Info on Millau Bridge construction from Bridgepros.com


Email This Article


Last updated: 10/08/05


Current Netlore
The Urban Legends Top 25

Explore Urban Legends

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. News & Issues
  3. Urban Legends
  4. Photo Foolery
  5. Man-Made Wonders
  6. World's Highest Bridge - Netlore Archive

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.