Millau – Norman Foster’s Viaduc

Although I have seen it and driven over it numerous times since it opened in 2005 Norman Foster’s Millau Bridge (Viaduc de Millau) remains an impressive sight.
“Imagine building a series of Eiffel towers, then slinging a four-lane highway between them, all the way across one of the deepest valleys in France. This is the Millau Viaduct – the tallest bridge in the world. Besides being almost a third taller than any other bridge on the planet, this incredible engineering marvel is a viaduct – a bridge spanning across an entire valley – that stretches from plateau to plateau in a long gracious curve”. at Millau (12 Aveyron, Occitanie).

Now part of the A75 autoroute from Clermont-Ferrand (63 Puy-de-Dome, ARA) to Beziers or Montpellier (34 Herault, Occitanie), there is a toll to cross the bridge, but the rest of the A75 autoroute is toll-free! If you are able to recall the journey pre-2005, you would think the small toll charge a very small price to pay to avoid following lorries slowly down the steep hill into the congested town of Millau, and then the slower journey up the steep hill back onto the plateau!

To see more about the bridge see www.leviaducdemillau.com