France - New Bridge over the Tarn River

Gary Smiley said:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if anybody
knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge in Millau -
the world's highest.

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane on
the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there. What I find
odd, is that there is no view of the span in all the pictures offered.
How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I suspect
the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

http://tinyurl.com/6zove
http://tinyurl.com/5hqkx
http://images.micron.com/images/education/bridges/royalgorgebridge4.jpg

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 20:57:19 -0500 in rec.bicycles.rides, "Gary

Smiley said:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if anybody knows
whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge in Millau - the world's
highest.

try googling for "viaduc de millau" or "pont de millau" and
you'll get a lot of hits. from the drawings on
http://www.aurelle-verlac.com/millau/viadmil.htm
it appears that there are emergency lanes, but no bike lanes.
can't remember from last summer's driving, but i think bikes are
forbidden on french motorways. i don't remember ever seeing
cyclists on them, but there were a lot of cars with bikes on the
back (mine included).

Quoted message said:

Gary Smiley said:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if anybody
knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge in Millau -
the world's highest.

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane on
the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

Quoted message said:

How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I suspect
the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

The Millau Viaduct isn't the highest above water: the Royal Gorge Bridge's
roadway is over 1000 feet above the Arkansas River. However, the Millau
Viaduct's towers are the tallest: the top of one of the seven towers is
1100 high.

Robert Chung said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
in Millau - the world's highest.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

Quoted message said:

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

In web site:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I
suspect the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

Quoted message said:

The Millau Viaduct isn't the highest above water: the Royal Gorge
Bridge's roadway is over 1000 feet above the Arkansas River.
However, the Millau Viaduct's towers are the tallest: the top of one
of the seven towers is 1100 high.

Height of the towers is different from "the highest bridge" as I use
that term. One might be disappointed not to have a vast panorama from
the bridge when such is only experienced from the inaccessible tops of
the towers.

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Robert Chung said:

Quoted message said:

> I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
> anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
> in Millau - the world's highest.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

Quoted message said:

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

In web site:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

It may be unclear from the photo. It is not unclear in real life. That you
see no reason why one should not ride there is because you haven't seen
either the bridge or the approach to it. There is neither a pedestrian
walk nor a bicycle lane.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I
suspect the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

Quoted message said:

The Millau Viaduct isn't the highest above water: the Royal Gorge
Bridge's roadway is over 1000 feet above the Arkansas River.
However, the Millau Viaduct's towers are the tallest: the top of one
of the seven towers is 1100 high.

Height of the towers is different from "the highest bridge" as I use
that term. One might be disappointed not to have a vast panorama from
the bridge when such is only experienced from the inaccessible tops of
the towers.

There is a moderate view up-and-down the river valley from the bridge deck
but not, for example, the vast panorama one gets from the tops of
Kilimanjaro or Mt. Diablo. In fact, I suspect even the view from the tops
of the towers wouldn't be particularly stunning: the topography around the
site isn't well-suited to it. I think the view of the bridge is better
than the view from the bridge, sort of like seeing Manhattan from New
Jersey is a better view than the opposite.

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 19:23:33 GMT, [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Robert Chung said:

Quoted message said:

> I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
> anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
> in Millau - the world's highest.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

Quoted message said:

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

In web site:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

Those are access for service/emergency vehicles.

- rick

Rick Warner said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
>> anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
>> in Millau - the world's highest.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
> on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In web site:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

Quoted message said:

Those are access for service/emergency vehicles.

Yes? Are they permitted for bicycling? I have often ridden the
Autoroute bridge from La Fayet to Chamonix with similar emergency
shoulders with no problem. There are times when you must make your
own choices in these instances. The same goes for the Simplon highway
above Brig in Switzerland.

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Rick Warner said:

Those are access for service/emergency vehicles.

Yes? Are they permitted for bicycling?

No.

This site for you http://www.cronaca.com/archives/002435.html

It said that :

The highest tower on the River Tarn Bridge is 1,115 feet (340 meters), and
its deck is 804 feet (245 meters).
The Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, built in 1929, is 1,053 feet (321
meters) above the Arkansas River

--
Tourelou,

Élaine
Montréal, Québec

<[email hidden]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Robert Chung said:

Quoted message said:

> I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
> anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
> in Millau - the world's highest.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

Quoted message said:

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

In web site:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I
suspect the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

Quoted message said:

The Millau Viaduct isn't the highest above water: the Royal Gorge
Bridge's roadway is over 1000 feet above the Arkansas River.
However, the Millau Viaduct's towers are the tallest: the top of one
of the seven towers is 1100 high.

Height of the towers is different from "the highest bridge" as I use
that term. One might be disappointed not to have a vast panorama from
the bridge when such is only experienced from the inaccessible tops of
the towers.

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 07:29:19 GMT, [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In web site:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

Quoted message said:

Those are access for service/emergency vehicles.

Yes? Are they permitted for bicycling? I have often ridden the
Autoroute bridge from La Fayet to Chamonix with similar emergency
shoulders with no problem. There are times when you must make your
own choices in these instances. The same goes for the Simplon highway
above Brig in Switzerland.

No bicycles. But I look at it this way: with the cars zipping by at
speed high above the valley, the old road down through the valley has
less traffic.

- rick

So let me get this straight - it's one of the world's highest bridges, (but
not the highest) and you can't cycle over it (legally) unless there is a
special bicycle event.
Thanks, all.

"Gary Smiley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if anybody knows
whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge in Millau - the world's
highest.

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 12:28:26 -0500 in rec.bicycles.rides, "Gary

Smiley said:

So let me get this straight - it's one of the world's highest bridges, (but
not the highest) and you can't cycle over it (legally) unless there is a
special bicycle event.

yep. just like a lot of other bridges designed by idiots,
including verazaonno narrows, the bay bridge, the chesapeake bay
bridge, and the prince edward island bridge. all designed by
cager-oriented engineers who should have known better.