The cruise liner The World, under the Chaban-Delmas bridge in Bordeaux, April 23, 2013 -

S.ORTOLA / 20MINUTES

  • The work was inaugurated eight years ago by François Hollande, then President of the Republic.

  • The traffic on this lift bridge is 28,000 vehicles per day (before the epidemic).

  • The lifting time has been shortened as much as possible to limit the inconvenience to motorists.

Eight years ago to the day, on March 16, 2013, the President of the Republic François Hollande made the trip to Bordeaux to inaugurate "the largest lift bridge in Europe".

Today, the Chaban-Delmas bridge has found its place in the travel habits of Bordeaux residents.

Car traffic rose from 20,000 vehicles per day in 2013 to 28,000 before the Covid-19 epidemic.

In addition to the three bus lines that cross this bridge, there are different types of daily users: 2,000 cyclists, 2,000 pedestrians per day, including 600 joggers and 300 users on scooters or other devices (Segways, rollerblades, skateboards).

The work, which cost 156 million euros, two-thirds of which was financed by the metropolis (the CUB at the time), has the particularity of being able to stand up to let the imposing cruise ships pass.

If the system is ingenious, the levees, programmed according to the tides, prevent access to the bridge for a certain time and can fall at peak hours, causing traffic jams.

Reduced lifting times

The Metropolis worked together with the harbor master's office to reduce the length of the bridge lifting as much as possible.

"The most important time saving concerns the arrival of liners over 200 meters long", specifies the metropolis.

A new tug has been mobilized and the maneuver is launched a little later, when the liner is closer to the structure.

As a result, the total duration of the bridge closure has been reduced from 2:18 to 1:23. The exit time from the port of the moon has also been improved, from 1:38 to 1:23.

In 2020, attendance and collections were logically down, due to the epidemic.

Only 16 ships passed under the structure.

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  • Bordeaux

  • Aquitaine

  • Chaban-Delmas

  • Bridge