Saturday 8 December 2007

Mind Le Gap




Mostly shot through the 'screen or sun-roof at speed I'm afraid. Couldn't resist this typically French piece of engineering - A43 East of Chambery heading into the Alps. The longest traffic jams ever recorded in the universe took place here before the construction of this weaving and lurching flyover. I just love the cantilevered extrusion process that sees sections of roadway head off in the hope of meeting up with their on-coming opposite partner to take the strain before they topple into the valley below. From each set of columns the deck is cast into thin air in both directions, each balancing the other, minor wobblies are taken up by the tensioned steel cable tie-downs - one hopes.

1 comment:

  1. I was once driving in north Lincolnshire and came across the M180 being built, specifically the bridge over the Trent. I got talking to the site foreman and he let me drive over a four foot gap in the the middle of the bridge on two bendy planks. Saved me about seventy miles, but the children screamed a bit in the back.

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