Millau Viaduct

At 984 feet tall, the Eiffel Tower is an impressive structure that soars above the Paris skyline. People marvel at its elegant design. However, while the Eiffel Tower may be France's most famous landmark, it's not the tallest. Some would say it's also not the most elegant. A quantifiably taller and arguably more elegant structure is the Millau Viaduct, which spans across the River Tarn near the town of Millau in southern France. With a maximum height of 1,125 feet, it is the second tallest bridge in the world.

The official name is Le Viaduc de Millau which also called as Millau Bridge or Millau Viaduct. The design used to build it is Cable-stayed, it means that has it more than one tower and the cables are used to support it. With a width of 32.05 meters it withholds 4 lanes for a total length of 2460 meters.

Traffic that passes from Paris to Spain near the town of Millau becomes jammed with cars that drive people to and from their holidays. First ideas for solving the problem were discussed in 1987 and in 1991, it was decided for a bridge to be built over a valley of Tarn river. In 1996 Sogelerg consortium proposed cable stayed-bridge that was designed by Michel Virlogeux and Norman Foster. That design was approved for realization. Construction began on 16th of October 2001. First piers were started in January 2002 and finished in November 2003. Roadways were finished on May 2004, pylons and shrouds in the second half of the 2004 and the viaduct was opened on 16 December 2004 - 25 days ahead of schedule. President Jacques Chirac opened the bridge during the opening ceremony.