Viaduc de Millau
Bloukrans Bridge
Royal Gorge Bridge
Contents
1. Introduction 2
2. Viaduc de Millau 3
3. The Royal Gorge Bridge 6
4. The highest bridge you can jump off 8
5. Conclusion 11
6. Sources 12
1. Introduction
The Viaduc de Millau in France, the top of one of the pylons is 343m above the ground. The bridge has the highest pylon in the world. But there is one bridge with a higher road surface the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado (VS).
So I have to make a decision, the highest pylon or the highest road surface? I decided to tell something about both of them.
But I am scared that I don’t have enough information of both bridges. So I thought let’s put another bridge in it, which became the highest bridge that you can bungee jump off the Bloukrans Bridge.
2. Viaduc de Millau
The viaduct de Millau is built over the river Tarn which is in France, Jacques Chirac the president opened the bridge on 14 December 2004. The bridge connects the cities Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier. Before the bridge was build all the traffic had to make a detour.
Building the bridge
On 14 December 2001 the first stone was laid by Jean-Claude Gassot he was the French minister of transport that time. Two weeks later they started to dig the bored pile foundations every pier has for of them. They were 14 metres deep with a diameter of 5m. On top of them they made a foundation slab from 3 to 5 metres thick, 2000m3 of concrete in per pier.
In March 2002 they started to raise the piers from the ground each pier rose around 4 metres every 3 days. When they were finished they were this high:
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7
94.501m 244.96m 221.05m 144.21m 136.42m 111.94m 77.56m
On 9 December 2003 all the piers and the abutments were finished.
The road surface
The road surface is 2460 metres long and 32 metres wide. The surface is built up out of 8 parts. De ones in the middle are 342m long and the outer ones 204m. The middle parts are made in the factories from Eiffage, were also a part of the Eiffel tower is built
The road surfaces were slid from the two sides to the middle of the bridge. They had to move exactly the same distance in the same time. Steel constructions were build between the piers to make sure the road surface won’t slide downwards. The parts moved in an average speed of 7 metres per hour. The parts were weld together on 28 May 2004 at 14:12 exactly. They were just one cm different in height which says that the calculations were for 99.9999% right!
The Pylons
When the workers weld together the two pylons were already needed to keep everything on its place. The five others were placed at the end of May 2004 after the roads surfaces were welded together. The lying pylons were transported onto the deck by four motorized trailers. Then they were raised and putted on the concrete pier.
The cable stays
On each pylon 11 pairs of cable stays were putted. They all had to stretch to exactly the same tension. The wires are made of 7 other wires one central wire and 6 others twisted around it.
120 years
Now the bridge is finished the cables have to stay in good condition for more then 120 years.
Costs
In total the bridge cost 320 million euros.
Architect
Norman Foster an English architect and designer designed the bridge based on the construction from Michel Foster. He was born on 1 June Manchester, England.
Where is the bridge?
The bridge is built over the river the Tarn in France. The river is 380 km long it starts in the Lozére and ends in the Garonne. The bridge connects Clermont-Ferrand with Montpellier. Before the bridge was built all the traffic had to make a detour.
Cable-stayed bridge
This is what a cable-stayed bridge usually looks like:
The roads surface hangs on the pillars by thick cables. The pylons put the weight on the foundations. They are mostly used when the bridge has to go over a big river or gorge. A looks a bit like a suspension bridge but a suspension bridge has vertical cables and a cable stayed bridge has diagonal cables (Picture on page 7).
3. The Royal Gorge Bridge
The bridge is built over the Arkansas River which is 1.053 feet (or 321 m). With this height it’s the highest suspension bridge in the world. It has also got the highest road surface in the whole world. It’s built 12 miles away from Canon City.
The history from the Royal Gorge
The first people that visited the gorge were the Native Americans. They haunted and lived in the gorge and the mountains in that place. Then the Utes a mountain tribe stayed there in the winter. In 1877 people discovered silver in the upper waters in the Arkansas River.
The Royal Gorge war
The Denver & Rio Grande and Santa Fe both wanted to build a railroad in the gorge to carry the ore. But the gorge was too small for two railroads. They started a fight, this battle last for 2 years. Finally Santa Fe got the right to build the railroad. Now a day the railroad is used as a tourist attraction. There are is a lot of wildlife to see in the gorge which tourists really like. The tour lasts for 2 hours and you’ll drive 34.4 kilometer. You can also eat in the train.
Building the bridge
The workers started to work on the suspension bridge on 5 June 1929. They started with building the concrete abutments. They were going to hold the main cables. Then they started to make the towers. All the steel in the towers was made by Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I). It was just 45 miles away from the location of the bridge, the towers are 46metres high.
Cables
When the steel towers were finished it was time to put the cables on the towers.
Costs
In that time the bridge cost $350,000 now it would cost around $15 million! In Nov 1929 the bridge was completed. In fact the bridge wasn’t built for the traffic but as a tourist attraction. And it has been a good tourist attraction since constructing it was finished.
Suspension bridge
Suspension bridges are usually used for big rivers or gorges. Even kilometers long bridges can be built in this way. A suspension bridge exists out of two pylons with a thick cable between them. The road surface is attached to it with other vertical hanging cables. There aren’t any suspension bridges in Holland because the ground is very soft here. On all the cables is tension so the pylons carry a lot. The power that remains is putted on the floor on which the big cable is also attached. The ground in Holland is just too soft to hold this force.
A suspension bridge
4. The highest bridge you can jump off
The Bloukrans Bridge is 216 meters high a lot lower then the viaduct or the Royal Gorge Bridge, but it’s the highest bridge you can bungee jump off. It’s built over the Bloukrans Bridge it’s around 30 km away from Plettenburg. In South Africa.
Building
They started working on the bridge in 1980 and were finished in 1983. So it didn’t take that long to build it.
Jumping
For 550 rand (money used in South Africa 58 euro) you can bungee jump from the bridge. They make a movie from everyone that jumps you can get it for 90 rand (9.5 euro) extra.
First you go on a cableway which is around 260 meters long to the middle of the bridge. When everyone is there someone jumps every few minutes. When it’s your turn you step forward stand over the edge with your toes. Looking downwards 216 meters deep 1, 2, 3, JUMP!! You make a long free fall and then you bounce when you hang still you’ll get hoisted up.
Safety
For safety you’re not allowed to jump when you’re under eighteen. If you’re under twenty-one you’re only allowed to jump if you permission from your parents. You also have to weigh 40 kilo at least. When you’re ill or pregnant you’re not allowed to you except with a letter from you doctor. The rope you hang on is attached two times extra for safety and everything will be double checked.
Arch bridge
The Royal Gorge Bridge is an arch bridge. The design of an arch bridge is already very old. It was first used in Mesopotamia and was improved better by the Greeks and the Romans. The Romans for instance used it for their aqueducts. There are two different types of arch bridges: the Compression arch bridge and the bowstring arch bridge
• The compression arch bridge the arch bridge in which the road surface is lying on an arch
• The bowstring arch bridge.
The arch bridge in that has a steel or stone bow above the road surface. But sometimes it’s underneath the bridge like in the in the Bloukrans bridge. Here is a picture of an arch bridge with a bow above it.
5. Conclusion
I liked it quite much to write this essay, but I found it quite difficult to find enough information many sites only include a little basic information which I already knew. I think that an essay from 10 pages is a little bit too much. Because the things you can write about over bridges are limited. You can write about how they were built what kind of construction it is and maybe a little more, that almost it. And then you still have to find it.
Bloukrans Bridge
Royal Gorge Bridge
Contents
1. Introduction 2
2. Viaduc de Millau 3
3. The Royal Gorge Bridge 6
4. The highest bridge you can jump off 8
5. Conclusion 11
6. Sources 12
1. Introduction
The Viaduc de Millau in France, the top of one of the pylons is 343m above the ground. The bridge has the highest pylon in the world. But there is one bridge with a higher road surface the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado (VS).
So I have to make a decision, the highest pylon or the highest road surface? I decided to tell something about both of them.
2. Viaduc de Millau
The viaduct de Millau is built over the river Tarn which is in France, Jacques Chirac the president opened the bridge on 14 December 2004. The bridge connects the cities Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier. Before the bridge was build all the traffic had to make a detour.
Building the bridge
On 14 December 2001 the first stone was laid by Jean-Claude Gassot he was the French minister of transport that time. Two weeks later they started to dig the bored pile foundations every pier has for of them. They were 14 metres deep with a diameter of 5m. On top of them they made a foundation slab from 3 to 5 metres thick, 2000m3 of concrete in per pier.
In March 2002 they started to raise the piers from the ground each pier rose around 4 metres every 3 days. When they were finished they were this high:
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7
94.501m 244.96m 221.05m 144.21m 136.42m 111.94m 77.56m
On 9 December 2003 all the piers and the abutments were finished.
The road surface
The road surface is 2460 metres long and 32 metres wide. The surface is built up out of 8 parts. De ones in the middle are 342m long and the outer ones 204m. The middle parts are made in the factories from Eiffage, were also a part of the Eiffel tower is built
The road surfaces were slid from the two sides to the middle of the bridge. They had to move exactly the same distance in the same time. Steel constructions were build between the piers to make sure the road surface won’t slide downwards. The parts moved in an average speed of 7 metres per hour. The parts were weld together on 28 May 2004 at 14:12 exactly. They were just one cm different in height which says that the calculations were for 99.9999% right!
The Pylons
When the workers weld together the two pylons were already needed to keep everything on its place. The five others were placed at the end of May 2004 after the roads surfaces were welded together. The lying pylons were transported onto the deck by four motorized trailers. Then they were raised and putted on the concrete pier.
The cable stays
On each pylon 11 pairs of cable stays were putted. They all had to stretch to exactly the same tension. The wires are made of 7 other wires one central wire and 6 others twisted around it.
120 years
Now the bridge is finished the cables have to stay in good condition for more then 120 years.
Costs
In total the bridge cost 320 million euros.
Architect
Norman Foster an English architect and designer designed the bridge based on the construction from Michel Foster. He was born on 1 June Manchester, England.
Where is the bridge?
The bridge is built over the river the Tarn in France. The river is 380 km long it starts in the Lozére and ends in the Garonne. The bridge connects Clermont-Ferrand with Montpellier. Before the bridge was built all the traffic had to make a detour.
Cable-stayed bridge
This is what a cable-stayed bridge usually looks like:
3. The Royal Gorge Bridge
The bridge is built over the Arkansas River which is 1.053 feet (or 321 m). With this height it’s the highest suspension bridge in the world. It has also got the highest road surface in the whole world. It’s built 12 miles away from Canon City.
The history from the Royal Gorge
The first people that visited the gorge were the Native Americans. They haunted and lived in the gorge and the mountains in that place. Then the Utes a mountain tribe stayed there in the winter. In 1877 people discovered silver in the upper waters in the Arkansas River.
The Royal Gorge war
The Denver & Rio Grande and Santa Fe both wanted to build a railroad in the gorge to carry the ore. But the gorge was too small for two railroads. They started a fight, this battle last for 2 years. Finally Santa Fe got the right to build the railroad. Now a day the railroad is used as a tourist attraction. There are is a lot of wildlife to see in the gorge which tourists really like. The tour lasts for 2 hours and you’ll drive 34.4 kilometer. You can also eat in the train.
Building the bridge
The workers started to work on the suspension bridge on 5 June 1929. They started with building the concrete abutments. They were going to hold the main cables. Then they started to make the towers. All the steel in the towers was made by Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I). It was just 45 miles away from the location of the bridge, the towers are 46metres high.
Cables
When the steel towers were finished it was time to put the cables on the towers.
Costs
In that time the bridge cost $350,000 now it would cost around $15 million! In Nov 1929 the bridge was completed. In fact the bridge wasn’t built for the traffic but as a tourist attraction. And it has been a good tourist attraction since constructing it was finished.
Suspension bridge
Suspension bridges are usually used for big rivers or gorges. Even kilometers long bridges can be built in this way. A suspension bridge exists out of two pylons with a thick cable between them. The road surface is attached to it with other vertical hanging cables. There aren’t any suspension bridges in Holland because the ground is very soft here. On all the cables is tension so the pylons carry a lot. The power that remains is putted on the floor on which the big cable is also attached. The ground in Holland is just too soft to hold this force.
A suspension bridge
4. The highest bridge you can jump off
The Bloukrans Bridge is 216 meters high a lot lower then the viaduct or the Royal Gorge Bridge, but it’s the highest bridge you can bungee jump off. It’s built over the Bloukrans Bridge it’s around 30 km away from Plettenburg. In South Africa.
Building
They started working on the bridge in 1980 and were finished in 1983. So it didn’t take that long to build it.
Jumping
For 550 rand (money used in South Africa 58 euro) you can bungee jump from the bridge. They make a movie from everyone that jumps you can get it for 90 rand (9.5 euro) extra.
First you go on a cableway which is around 260 meters long to the middle of the bridge. When everyone is there someone jumps every few minutes. When it’s your turn you step forward stand over the edge with your toes. Looking downwards 216 meters deep 1, 2, 3, JUMP!! You make a long free fall and then you bounce when you hang still you’ll get hoisted up.
Safety
For safety you’re not allowed to jump when you’re under eighteen. If you’re under twenty-one you’re only allowed to jump if you permission from your parents. You also have to weigh 40 kilo at least. When you’re ill or pregnant you’re not allowed to you except with a letter from you doctor. The rope you hang on is attached two times extra for safety and everything will be double checked.
Arch bridge
The Royal Gorge Bridge is an arch bridge. The design of an arch bridge is already very old. It was first used in Mesopotamia and was improved better by the Greeks and the Romans. The Romans for instance used it for their aqueducts. There are two different types of arch bridges: the Compression arch bridge and the bowstring arch bridge
• The compression arch bridge the arch bridge in which the road surface is lying on an arch
• The bowstring arch bridge.
The arch bridge in that has a steel or stone bow above the road surface. But sometimes it’s underneath the bridge like in the in the Bloukrans bridge. Here is a picture of an arch bridge with a bow above it.
5. Conclusion
I liked it quite much to write this essay, but I found it quite difficult to find enough information many sites only include a little basic information which I already knew. I think that an essay from 10 pages is a little bit too much. Because the things you can write about over bridges are limited. You can write about how they were built what kind of construction it is and maybe a little more, that almost it. And then you still have to find it.
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