Phil in Paris
12-19-2004, 08:32 AM
Tuesday, December 14th, 2004
By Associated Press
MILLAU, France (AP) — Thundering fighter jets streamed the blue, white and red of the French tricolor as President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday dedicated the world’s tallest bridge, a skyway span dwarfing the Eiffel Tower by more than 50 feet.
Ahead of its public opening today, the Millau bridge in southern France has been celebrated as a work of art combining the strength of cement and steel with the “delicacy of a butterfly.”
Images of the bridge, which dominates the Rhone Valley countryside for miles, have appeared in national media for days.
Stretching 1.6 miles through France’s Massif Central mountains, the bridge will enable motorists to take a drive 891 feet above the Tarn River valley.
Chirac underscored the national pride stirred by the bridge by lifting a French flag from its ceremonial plaque, followed by air force jets trailing the colors of France.
“This exceptional opening will go down in industrial and technological history,” Chirac said, praising the designers and builders for creating “a prodigy of art and architecture — a new emblem of French civil engineering.”
The bridge will serve as a symbol of “a modern and conquering France,” he said.
Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the steel-and-concrete bridge with its streamlined diagonal suspension cables rests on seven pillars — the tallest measuring 1,122 feet, making it 53 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower.
http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1041520&t=Nation+%2F+World&c=26,1041520
By Associated Press
MILLAU, France (AP) — Thundering fighter jets streamed the blue, white and red of the French tricolor as President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday dedicated the world’s tallest bridge, a skyway span dwarfing the Eiffel Tower by more than 50 feet.
Ahead of its public opening today, the Millau bridge in southern France has been celebrated as a work of art combining the strength of cement and steel with the “delicacy of a butterfly.”
Images of the bridge, which dominates the Rhone Valley countryside for miles, have appeared in national media for days.
Stretching 1.6 miles through France’s Massif Central mountains, the bridge will enable motorists to take a drive 891 feet above the Tarn River valley.
Chirac underscored the national pride stirred by the bridge by lifting a French flag from its ceremonial plaque, followed by air force jets trailing the colors of France.
“This exceptional opening will go down in industrial and technological history,” Chirac said, praising the designers and builders for creating “a prodigy of art and architecture — a new emblem of French civil engineering.”
The bridge will serve as a symbol of “a modern and conquering France,” he said.
Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the steel-and-concrete bridge with its streamlined diagonal suspension cables rests on seven pillars — the tallest measuring 1,122 feet, making it 53 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower.
http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1041520&t=Nation+%2F+World&c=26,1041520