France has its share of iconic structures – Mont St-Michel, the Eiffel Tower, the Château de Versailles – but in centuries to come, the majestic Viaduc de Millau might well stand alongside them in terms of architectural importance. This gravity-defying toll bridge hovers 343m above the Tarn valley, making it one of the world’s highest road bridges.
Designed by the British architect Sir Norman Foster, it’s a work of imagination as much as engineering: seven slender pylons support 2.5km of the A75 motorway, and despite its heavyweight construction (127,000 cu metres of concrete, 19,000 tonnes of steel, 5000 tonnes of cable), the bridge still somehow manages to look as delicate as a gossamer thread.
