France - New Bridge over the Tarn River

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if anybody knows
whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge in Millau - the world's
highest.

Gary Smiley writes:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if anybody
knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge in Millau -
the world's highest.

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane on
the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there. What I find
odd, is that there is no view of the span in all the pictures offered.
How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I suspect
the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

http://tinyurl.com/6zove
http://tinyurl.com/5hqkx
http://images.micron.com/images/educ...rgebridge4.jpg

Jobst Brandt

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 20:57:19 -0500 in rec.bicycles.rides, "Gary
Smiley" wrote:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if anybody knows
whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge in Millau - the world's
highest.

try googling for "viaduc de millau" or "pont de millau" and
you'll get a lot of hits. from the drawings on
http://www.aurelle-verlac.com/millau/viadmil.htm
it appears that there are emergency lanes, but no bike lanes.
can't remember from last summer's driving, but i think bikes are
forbidden on french motorways. i don't remember ever seeing
cyclists on them, but there were a lot of cars with bikes on the
back (mine included).

wrote:
Gary Smiley writes:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if anybody
knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge in Millau -
the world's highest.

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane on
the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I suspect
the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

The Millau Viaduct isn't the highest above water: the Royal Gorge Bridge's
roadway is over 1000 feet above the Arkansas River. However, the Millau
Viaduct's towers are the tallest: the top of one of the seven towers is
1100 high.

Robert Chung writes:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
in Millau - the world's highest.

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

In web site:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I
suspect the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

The Millau Viaduct isn't the highest above water: the Royal Gorge
Bridge's roadway is over 1000 feet above the Arkansas River.
However, the Millau Viaduct's towers are the tallest: the top of one
of the seven towers is 1100 high.

Height of the towers is different from "the highest bridge" as I use
that term. One might be disappointed not to have a vast panorama from
the bridge when such is only experienced from the inaccessible tops of
the towers.

Jobst Brandt

wrote:
Robert Chung writes:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
in Millau - the world's highest.

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

In web site:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

It may be unclear from the photo. It is not unclear in real life. That you
see no reason why one should not ride there is because you haven't seen
either the bridge or the approach to it. There is neither a pedestrian
walk nor a bicycle lane.

How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I
suspect the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

The Millau Viaduct isn't the highest above water: the Royal Gorge
Bridge's roadway is over 1000 feet above the Arkansas River.
However, the Millau Viaduct's towers are the tallest: the top of one
of the seven towers is 1100 high.

Height of the towers is different from "the highest bridge" as I use
that term. One might be disappointed not to have a vast panorama from
the bridge when such is only experienced from the inaccessible tops of
the towers.

There is a moderate view up-and-down the river valley from the bridge deck
but not, for example, the vast panorama one gets from the tops of
Kilimanjaro or Mt. Diablo. In fact, I suspect even the view from the tops
of the towers wouldn't be particularly stunning: the topography around the
site isn't well-suited to it. I think the view of the bridge is better
than the view from the bridge, sort of like seeing Manhattan from New
Jersey is a better view than the opposite.

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 19:23:33 GMT,
wrote:

Robert Chung writes:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
in Millau - the world's highest.

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

In web site:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.


Those are access for service/emergency vehicles.

- rick

Rick Warner writes:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
in Millau - the world's highest.

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

In web site:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

Those are access for service/emergency vehicles.

Yes? Are they permitted for bicycling? I have often ridden the
Autoroute bridge from La Fayet to Chamonix with similar emergency
shoulders with no problem. There are times when you must make your
own choices in these instances. The same goes for the Simplon highway
above Brig in Switzerland.

Jobst Brandt

wrote:
Rick Warner writes:

Those are access for service/emergency vehicles.

Yes? Are they permitted for bicycling?

No.

This site for you http://www.cronaca.com/archives/002435.html

It said that :

The highest tower on the River Tarn Bridge is 1,115 feet (340 meters), and
its deck is 804 feet (245 meters).
The Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, built in 1929, is 1,053 feet (321
meters) above the Arkansas River

--
Tourelou,

Élaine
Montréal, Québec

a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Robert Chung writes:

I might be touring in Southern France and I was wondering if
anybody knows whether it's possible to ride over that new bridge
in Millau - the world's highest.

As far as I can see there is a pedestrian walk and a bicycle lane
on the bridge. I see no reason why one should not ride there.

There is neither a pedestrian walk nor a bicycle lane.

In web site:

http://tinyurl.com/6zove

picture IMG-2127.JPG shows clearly that there are wide shoulders on
either side of two traffic lanes. Whether these are permitted for
bicycle use is unclear.

How does this bridge get the record of being the highest. I
suspect the Royal George Bridge and many others are higher.

The Millau Viaduct isn't the highest above water: the Royal Gorge
Bridge's roadway is over 1000 feet above the Arkansas River.
However, the Millau Viaduct's towers are the tallest: the top of one
of the seven towers is 1100 high.

Height of the towers is different from "the highest bridge" as I use
that term. One might be disappointed not to have a vast panorama from
the bridge when such is only experienced from the inaccessible tops of
the towers.

Jobst Brandt