The Millau Viaduct

Introduction
The Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the George Valley of
the Tam near Millau in southern France. The bridge has been consistently ranked as one
of the great engineering achievements of all time, and received the 2001 Outstanding
Structure Award from the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering.

Key Information
 The name of the project was The Millau Viaduct Bridge Project which was given
by the team of their French engineers.
 On October 16 2001 the work had started and followed by different events like
laying of the first stone (14 December 2001), laying pier foundations (January
2002), begin of assembly of roadways (September 2002), completion of first piers
(November 2002) and was finally inaugurated on 14 December 2004 before the
deadline January 2005. So, it took almost about 3 years for completion.
 The owner of the project is Compagnie Eiffage du Viaduc de Millau which is a
private limited company of France. The company was incorporated in 1956 and
is based in Millau, France.
 There were several Engineers and Architects working under this project. But the
Chief Engineer was Dr.Michel Virloguex (Structural Engineer) and chief
Architect was Sir Normen Froster.
 The bridge's construction cost up to € 394 million, with a toll plaza 6 kilometers
(3.7 mi) north of the viaduct, costing an additional €20 million. The builders,
Eiffage, financed the construction in return for a concession to collect the tolls for
75 years.
Key Plans
In initial studies, four potential options were examined:

1. Great Eastern- passing east of Millau and crossing the valleys of

the Tarn and Dourbie on two very high and long bridges whose construction was
acknowledged to be problematic.
2. Great Western- longer than the eastern option by 12 kilometers but this solution
was judged to have negative impacts on the environment.
3. Near RN9- would have served the town of Millau well, but presented technical
difficulties.
4. Intermediate- was supported by local opinion, but presented geological
difficulties, notably on the question of crossing the valley of the Tarn.

 But the fourth option was selected by ministerial decree on 28 June 1989.

After the choice five teams of architects and researches worked on a technical
solution. The concept and design for the bridge was devised by
French designer and structural engineer Dr.Michel Virloguex. He worked with
the Dutch engineering firm ARCAIDS, responsible for the structural engineering of
the bridge.
Simultaneously, a school of international experts representing a wide spectrum of
expertise was established to clarify the choice of technical design.
General Details
The Millau Viaduct is located on the territory of the communes of Millau and Cerissels,
France.
Numerous organizations opposed the project, including the World Wildlife
Fund (WWF)France Nature Environment, the national federation of motorway users, and
Environmental Action.
The construction Millau Viaduct broke several records:
 The highest pylons in the world.
 The highest bridge tower in the world: the mast atop pylon P2 peaks at 336.4
meters (1,104 ft).
 The highest road bridge deck in Europe, 270 meters (890 ft) above the Tarn at its
highest point; it is nearly twice as tall as the previous tallest vehicular bridges in
Europe.
The project required about 127,000 cubic meters of concrete,19,000 tons of steel for
the reinforced concrete, and 5,000 tons of pre-stressed steel for the cables and
shrouds. The builder claims that the lifetime of the bridge will be at least 120 years.

Key Features
 It is the tallest bridge in the world, having a structural height of 336.4 meters
(1,104 ft).
 The highest pylons in the world.
 It was constructed before the deadline.
 The highest road bridge deck in Europe.
 It has resolved the major traffic jam problem in France.
 Figure. The Millau Viaduct

If I have to select a role in the above project for myself then, I

would like to be in the place of Sir Michel Virlogeux as a
Structural Engineer because a structural engineer is one for
the most important person of any Civil project. As they have
to design the whole project on their own and has a lot of
responsibity for that, as the structure of any Infrastructure is
the base for the whole Project.