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Stay off Rt. A75 if you get queasy from heights!
The Millau Viaduct is a large cable-stayed road bridge that spans the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in southern France, and is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 1,125 ft. — slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 125 ft. shorter than the Empire State Building. The viaduct is part of the A75-A71 autoroute from Paris to Béziers. It was opened to traffic on December 16 2004.
The bridge’s construction broke three world records:
· The highest pylons in the world: pylons P2 and P3, 803 ft 8 in and 725 ft 3 in in height respectively, broke the world record previously held by the Kochertal Viaduct (Germany), which is 590 ft at its highest;
· The highest mast in the world: the mast atop pylon P2 peaks at 1,130 ft.
· The highest road bridge deck in the world, 890 ft. at its highest point. It is nearly twice as tall as the previous tallest vehicular bridge in Europe, the Europabrücke in Austria. It is slightly higher than the New River Gorge Bridge in W. Virginia, which is 880 ft. above the New River.
The record for highest bridge deck in the world is likely to be taken by the Chenab Bridge in the Reasi District of Jammu and Kashmir, India, scheduled for completion in December 2009, which will be 1,180 ft high.
The Millau Viaduct is a large cable-stayed road bridge that spans the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in southern France, and is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 1,125 ft. — slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 125 ft. shorter than the Empire State Building. The viaduct is part of the A75-A71 autoroute from Paris to Béziers. It was opened to traffic on December 16 2004.
The bridge’s construction broke three world records:
· The highest pylons in the world: pylons P2 and P3, 803 ft 8 in and 725 ft 3 in in height respectively, broke the world record previously held by the Kochertal Viaduct (Germany), which is 590 ft at its highest;
· The highest mast in the world: the mast atop pylon P2 peaks at 1,130 ft.
· The highest road bridge deck in the world, 890 ft. at its highest point. It is nearly twice as tall as the previous tallest vehicular bridge in Europe, the Europabrücke in Austria. It is slightly higher than the New River Gorge Bridge in W. Virginia, which is 880 ft. above the New River.
The record for highest bridge deck in the world is likely to be taken by the Chenab Bridge in the Reasi District of Jammu and Kashmir, India, scheduled for completion in December 2009, which will be 1,180 ft high.