The incredible £333mn ‘bridge above the clouds’ that ‘changed the map of Europe’

This incredible bridge literally set new heights not just for Europe but the entire world.

Not only is it one of the most on the planet but it is also the tallest. 

For those wondering, this remarkable structure is the that soars over , stretches 8,070 feet in length and stands at a whopping height of 1,104 feet.

Words don’t even do it justice. It is so huge that it can easily be seen from space and so prominent that it has its own visitor centre. People across the globe travel just to experience a drive across one of the world’s wonders.

Whilst the Gorges du Tarn area is already an enchanting landscapes, the Millau Viaduct effectively contributes to it.

And residents of the region have the pleasure of viewing what is described as an “engineeing marvel” by David Knight, director of design and engineering at Cake Industries and specialist adviser to the Institution of Civil Engineers.

He said: “It’s that perfect interplay of architecture and engineering that means that everybody who sees it thinks its spectacular.” For those who don’t have the luxury of seeing it as they step out of their homes, well a drive on the A75 from Clermont-Ferrand to Beziers, one of the main north-south routes in France, offers the view you need and creates that “sense of awe.”

But this renowned bridge is more than just a piece of art, it completely changed the map of Europe. How?

The Massif Central is a wide area of highlands located in the central part of the bottom half of France. The region made up of deep valleys and gorges is one of the obstacles that made travelling from north to the south of the country or northern Europe to Spain rather challenging.

Which is where the viaduct comes in. Michel Virlogeux, the engineer who led the design team that first started working on the structure in September 1987 shared that “at the time the Massif Central was remote despite its central location”.

With only a single track railway line and roads which according to the engineer “weren’t very good” something had to be done. The decision to build a bridge around Millau was taken in September 1968 but because of the geography of the area, Michel Virlogeux who was head of the large bridges division of the French administration at the time, said: “it took almost three years to find a solution.”

The team got to thinking and came up with ideas including running west of Millau and bring the road lower in altitude down into the valley, across a bridge at a lower lvel and up again to the plateau and then adding a tunnel.

It was during the planning that an idea sparked for Jacques Soubeyran, one of the road engineers in the team. Recalling the moment, Michel Virlogeux shared: “He [Jacques] asked, ‘why are you going into the valley?’ and it was a big shock.”

“The motorway was passing 300 meters above the river. I hadn’t even considered the possibility of passing at a high level. Immediately, I said we were being stupid. We started working on the idea of passing plateau to plateau,” he continued. 

After eight days they had detailed drawings of the ground levels but it was time to decide what the bridge would look like and the team leader knew straight away that it would be a cable-stayed bridge for reasons including being “the most efficient structure to carry a load” and the ability of having “a very slender deck so it’s much better to look at.”

So the French government did something rather interesting and started a competition for the design of the bridge which was won by of course the group led by Michel Virlogeux as engineer and as the architect it was Norman Foster who is now Lord Foster.

It was in October 2001 that the project costing 400 million euros (approximately £333 million) started and after three years, 600 builders and 290,000 tons of steel, the world’s tallest bridge was finally completed.