Inauguration of the new Térénez bridge

11 July 2011 - Events - France

The new Térénez bridge across the Aulne (Brittany), linking northern Finistère with the Crozon peninsula, was inaugu­rated and opened to traffic on 17 April. Some 15,000 people came to see for themselves the first curved cable-stayed bridge in France: it replaces the exist­ing bridge, which was brought into service in 1925 and rebuilt in the 1950s, and sets a world record for supporting a curved span (285 metres). 515 metres long and providing 7.50 metres of roadway and two paths re­served for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders, it is supported by two 100 metre-high, lambda-shaped towers: leaning over as if flattened by the wind, they emphasise the ‘airborne’ nature of this new crossing. Four years of works were required, the efforts of 150 em­ployees from Group companies*, the deployment of 13,500 cu. metres of concrete and 460 t of steel as well as the installation of 72 pairs of stays, in order to create this bridge designed by the architect Charles Lavigne and engineer Michel Virlogeux.

* Dodin Campenon Bernard (VINCI Construction), lead contractor, Sogea Bretagne, GTM Bretagne and Botte Fondations (all VINCI Construction France subsidiaries) – working in collaboration with several VINCI Construction structural design offices (the design office of VINCI Construction France in Marseilles, Campenon Bernard Dodin Ingénierie and the Engineering and Technical Resources arm of VINCI Construction Grands Projets) –, Freyssinet (co-contractor) and Terre Armee, subsidiaries of Soletanche Freyssinet (VINCI Construction), Eurovia’s Quimper office, and Citéos Quimper and Actemium Brest (two business units of the VINCI Energies France Division, Energy business line).