Day 1873 (Monday) 25th July 2022
It was super-hot again today and I had to work. Anastasia arrived at 10am on the dot and we did some vocabulary about crime and punishment. I was chuffed when I knew a word in French that she didn’t know in English she asked me a ‘fine’ was and I was able to tell her in French – it’s ‘amende’. We finished at 11.30 and Badger helped me do some photocopying for next week.
He was very well behaved during our class and sat at Anastasia’s feet for a while, then fell asleep in the hall around a corner – I’d love to know why he does this.
I found this gorgeous photo of him when he was a baby.
After a quick snack Huw kindly gave me a lift into Nice to work in the toy shop. Florence was very busy with customers and we didn’t get that much done but she is trying more these days. She keeps laughing at my pronunciation when speaking French. Towards the end of our class and woman came into the shop with two kids and when she came to the counter to pay Florence chatted away to her and I understood most of it. Florence asked her where she was from and we were both amazed to hear that she’s English because Florence thought she was French saying that her pronunciation was perfect – imagine being that good. Huw kindly picked me up at 2pm and when we got to our parking space in Villefranche we were surprised to see a large group of tourists with a French speaking guide and we both understood a lot of it.
Following on from yesterday here are some facts about the tallest bridge in the world…
Millau viaduct – 10 facts on the tallest bridge in the world November 13, 2015 by Anirudh.
With a structural height of 343 m, Millau Viaduct is famous as the tallest bridge in the world. It is also renowned for its design, which was considered impossible to construct on its inception, and for being one of the greatest achievements in engineering. Designed by Michel Virlogeux and Norman Foster, Millau Viaduct was constructed in around 3 years with a cost of €394 million. Learn about the design, construction and history of this famous bridge in France through these 10 interesting facts.
It links two limestone plateaus. The word Viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere, to lead. A viaduct is a bridge consisting of a number of short spans for carrying a road over a valley, river etc. Millau is a commune in southern France located at the confluence of the Tarn and Dourbie rivers. Millau Viaduct extends across the Tarn River valley linking two limestone plateaus, the Causse du Larzac and the Causse Rouge.
It was constructed to solve traffic problems in the Tarn valley The plan to construct a bridge spanning the Tarn valley was considered as early as 1987. It was due to the fact that there was heavy traffic on the route from Paris to Spain in the holiday season and before the construction of Millau Viaduct, it had to descend into the Tarn River valley and pass along the route nationale N9 near the town of Millau, causing heavy congestion. The decision to construct the bridge was made in October 1991.
Millau Viaduct was designed by French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster. Michel Virlogeux is a bridge specialist who has designed more than a 100 bridges including Pont de Normandie in northern France. Norman Foster is one of the most prolific British architects of his generation. In 1999 he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture.
Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed bridge as opposed to the more familiar suspension bridge. In a suspension bridge, the large main cables hang between the pillars and are connected to the ground at each end of the bridge. The weight of the deck is transferred to the main cables and through them to anchor points on the ground. In a cable stayed bridge, multiple cables from each pillar are transmitted to support a section of the bridge deck around the pillar.
It is built on the harp design of cable-stayed bridges. The two popular types of cable-stayed bridge designs are harp and fan. In the fan design, the cables supporting the deck pass through the same point which is at or near the top of the pillar. While in the harp design, the cables pass through the pillar at different heights with the cable nearest to the pillar passing through the lowest point on the pillar. Millau Viaduct is an example of a harp cable-stayed bridge.
Construction record for the highest pylon was broken during the building of the bridge.The construction of Millau Viaduct began in late 2001. Due to the design of the bridge, constructing it was an enormous challenge. It started with deep foundations to support the massive weight the bridge would put on the pillars. 7 pillars weighing 700 tons each had to be built. The pillars had to be exactly in place for the bridge to be a success and signals from multiple satellites were used to pin point the position. The pillars were completed by November 2003. Pillar P2, with a height of 244.96 metres (803 ft 8 in), broke the world record for world’s tallest bridge pylon by more than 50m.
It was constructed in around three years at a cost of 394€ million.
After the pillars were put in place, the deck was slid on top of the pillars from each end. Success depended on the two parts of the deck meeting with perfect geometry. Despite the two ends of the bridge being at different heights and the slight curve in the design of the bridge, the two parts of the deck were aligned within one centimetre. On December 14th 2004, Millau Viaduct was officially opened by then President of France Jacques Chirac.
Millau viaduct is the tallest bridge in the world The tallest bridges in the world are ranked according to their structural height. Structural height is the maximum vertical distance from the topmost point of the bridge to the lowest visible point of the bridge. Millau Viaduct is the tallest bridge in the world with a structural height of 343 m (1,125 ft). It is more than 70 feet taller than its nearest competitor Russky Bridge in Vladivostok, Russia, which has a structural height of 320.9 metres (1,053 ft).
It is the highest bridge in Europe The highest bridges in the world are ranked according to their deck height. Deck height is the vertical drop distance from the bridge deck (roadway of the bridge) to the ground or water surface beneath the bridge span. Millau Viaduct has a deck height of 270 m (886 ft) and ranks 15 in the list of highest bridges in the world. Sidu River Bridge in China is the highest bridge in the world with a height of 496 m (1,627 ft). However Millau Viaduct is still the highest bridge in Europe.
Millau viaduct is an engineering marvel
Millau Viaduct is ranked as one of the great engineering achievements of all time. Its highest point is 19 metres (62 ft) taller than the Eiffer Tower. Millau Viaduct is so high that it glides above the clouds. It is considered one of the most beautiful bridges. Speed limit on the bridge was reduced from 130 km/h (81 mph) to 110 km/h (68 mph) because tourists were slowing down to take photos. In 2006, Millau Viaduct received the Outstanding Structure Award by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.
Millau viaduct stats
2,460 m (8,071 ft): total length of the roadway
7: number of piers
77 m (253 ft): height of Pier 7, the shortest
343 m (1,125 ft): height of Pier 2, the tallest (245 m or 804 ft at the roadway’s level)
270 m (886 ft): average height of the roadway
20 m (13 ft 9 in): thickness of the roadway
05 m (105 ft 2 in): width of the roadway
85,000 m3 (111,000 cu yd): total volume of concrete used
290,000 tonnes (320,000 short tons): total weight of the bridge
10,000–25,000 vehicles: estimated daily traffic
6.00€–7€50: typical automobile toll, as of December 2009
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