The Millau Viaduct: The Bridge Over the Clouds
Occitanie, France
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250
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+100 France
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1 day
The Millau Viaduct: The Bridge Over the Clouds
250 + 100 XP
The Millau viaduct carries the A75 across the Tarn valley between the Causse Rouge and the Causse du Larzac — a cable-stayed bridge to Norman Foster's design, nearly 2.5km long, inaugurated on 14 December 2004 and opened to traffic two days later, three years after the first stone was laid. It holds records: the tallest pier-and-pylon assembly of any road bridge in the world at 343m, the two tallest piers in the world at 245m and 221m, and a deck 270m above the river. The gap it crosses is 2,460m wide, the wind across it can pass 200km/h, and the deck was calculated to stand 225km/h.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Pay the toll and drive the 2,460m of deck on the A75, 270m above the Tarn at its highest, and notice how little of the drop you can see from the car — the parapets and the mast shadows are most of what a driver gets, which is why the view from below is the better half of this
2
of 4
From the viewpoint below, pick out P2 and P3, the two tallest bridge piers in the world at 245m and 221m, and follow P2 up past the deck to the top of its mast — 343m from footing to tip, the tallest pier-and-pylon on any road bridge anywhere
3
of 4
Pull off at the viaduct's own visitor site on the Aire du Viaduc at Brocuéjouls, go through the exhibition on how the deck was pushed out over the piers, and then walk to the belvédère at the end of it for the span end-on
4
of 4
Get down to the Tarn at Millau, on foot along the bank or in a canoe, and look straight up at the deck 270m overhead — close enough under it to hear the traffic you cannot see
Pay the toll and drive the 2,460m of deck on the A75, 270m above the Tarn at its highest, and notice how little of the drop you can see from the car — the parapets and the mast shadows are most of what a driver gets, which is why the view from below is the better half of this
From the viewpoint below, pick out P2 and P3, the two tallest bridge piers in the world at 245m and 221m, and follow P2 up past the deck to the top of its mast — 343m from footing to tip, the tallest pier-and-pylon on any road bridge anywhere
Pull off at the viaduct's own visitor site on the Aire du Viaduc at Brocuéjouls, go through the exhibition on how the deck was pushed out over the piers, and then walk to the belvédère at the end of it for the span end-on
Get down to the Tarn at Millau, on foot along the bank or in a canoe, and look straight up at the deck 270m overhead — close enough under it to hear the traffic you cannot see
Before you go
The crossing is wind-governed and the rules name caravans specifically: from 90 km/h of mean wind lorries and caravans must slow down, at 110 km/h they are banned from the viaduct, and above 140 km/h it closes to everything — though the operator says it has never yet had to close for wind. A motorhome in a gale should check Bison Futé before the A75 descent and take the old road through Millau instead. The viaduct site at the Aire de Brocuéjouls is open every day of the year and free, 9am to 6pm in the shoulder seasons and 10am to 5pm from 2 November, closing at 4pm on 24 and 31 December and shut on 25 December; the belvédère over the span is accessible round the clock.
The viaduct is a toll crossing, not a free stretch of motorway: the state gave up on a free A75 here and put the bridge out to an Eiffage concession that runs to 31 December 2079, and the toll is charged by vehicle class, so a motorhome pays more than a car and more again in the summer tariff. The old road down through Millau is free and gives the view from below, which the deck does not. Keep change or a card ready at the barrier.
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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