On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the Millau Viaduct is exported to the United States

Après vingt ans, le Viaduc de Millau reste le plus haut pont du monde avec ses 343 mètres. Midi Libre – Laura Vaillant

Mardi 20 août, le média américain CNN a publié un article revenant sur l’histoire du Viaduc de Millau.

The Millau Viaduct questions and captivates beyond the French borders. While it blows out its twenty candles this year, its reputation remains undeniable. This is evidenced by the article by Julia Buckley published this Tuesday, August 20 in the “Travel” section from the American media CNN.

Entitled “How the world's highest bridge changed the map of Europe”, the article highlights the giant of the valley, from its imagination to its construction and its territorial assets.

The one who popped the cork

An article in the form of a tribute that begins with the description of a concrete and steel giant and continues with testimonies, including that of the Millau councillor Emmanuelle Gazel.

“Before, crossing Millau was a real traffic black spot for tourists, says Emmanuelle Gazel, the mayor of Millau. There were a lot of traffic jams. There were miles and miles of traffic jams. It gave a very bad image of our territory… In terms of pollution, it was terrible. And the inhabitants took a long time to move from one point to another."

To remedy this, a bridge connecting the Larzac to the Causse rouge overhanging the Tarn river. A structure 2,460 meters long, resting on seven pylons. A real giant visible from kilometers thanks, in particular, to its highest pile reaching up to 343 meters.

“Engineering Marvel”

A “engineering marvel”, in the words of David Knight, Director of Design and Engineering at Cake Industries and Specialist Advisor to the Institution of Civil Engineers. In the article published on CNN, the professional evokes the unique character of the work. "It is this perfect interaction between architecture and engineering that makes everyone who sees it find it spectacular."

The journalist Julia Buckley then hands the microphone to several other interlocutors. Starting with the British Norman Foster, a major figure in world architecture, who explains how the Tarn Valley "of extreme beauty" was “became one of the worst bottlenecks in France”.

She also gives the floor to Michel Virlogeux, the engineer leading the design team who talks about the choice of the Viaduct's location. “We started looking where it was possible, but many options were bad and it took almost three years to find a solution.”