Rauze Viaduct

Rauze Viaduct
Viaduc Rauze
Saint-Michel, Midi-Pyrénées, France
331 feet high / 101 meters high
427 foot span / 130 meter span
2000

Image by Group Egis.

The highest bridge on France’s A20 motorway, the Viaduc de la Rauze is another concrete box girder bridge with sharp looking pier shafts that are superior to almost any other bridge of its type. Architects Charles Lavigne and Alain Montois created a cross section that seems to focus your attention on the center slit within each tower. A similar pier design was used on the Cahors and Bourran viaducts. The shape of the opening is not unlike the famous Grande Arche building in the La Défense business district of Paris. The five main spans are 427 feet (130 mtrs) long and support a deck 79 feet (24 mtrs) wide.

Rauze Viaduct satellite image.