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Millau Viaduct: A Detailed Look Into Its Construction
Millau Viaduct: A Detailed Look Into Its Construction
Overview
A cable-stayed road bridge that links
the motorway from Paris to
Barcelona
Designed by French bridge engineer
Michel Virlogeux
Longest cable-stayed deck
Tallest vehicular bridge in the world
Overview
Technical Design
A pool of international experts was
established
-chaired by Jean-Francois Coste
February 1995
-proposals were narrowed to
five
general
designs
July 15, 1996
-a decision was made by the
jury
chaired by Christian
Leyrit
Technical Design
Design chosen was the
cable-stayed bridge
presented by Sogelerg,
Europe Etudes Gecti
and
Serg
and the
architects Foster +
Two major challenges:
1. Crossing the Tarn
River
2. Making two plateaus meet
Solution:
-Uses seven pylons
plans were approved
near the end of 1998
Contractors
1999
-international call for tenders
was issued
Contractors
Other consortia who participated in the
bidding:
A consortium led by the Spanish company Dragados, with
Skanska (Sweden), and Bec (France)
Socit du Viaduc de Millau, including the French companies
ASF, Egis, GTM, Bouygues Travaux Publics, SGE, CDC Projets,
Tofinso and the Italian company Autostrade
A consortium led by Gnrale Routire, with Via GTI (France)
and Cintra, Nesco, Acciona et Ferrovial Agroman (Spain).
Contractors
Breakdown of roles in the construction
work:
Eiffage Group
Eiffage TP concrete
Eiffel steel roadway
ENERPAC hydraulic launching system
Eiffage (pre-stress division) prestressing
of pillar heads
Eiffage Concessions management
Contractors
PERI sliding shutter for the piers
PAECH Construction Enterprise (Poland)
pylons
Appia bituminous coating
Forclum electrical installations
Freyssinet, subsidiary of the Vinci Group
stay-cables
Greisch (Belgium) steel deck
Setec engineering group project authority
Socit Nationale des Chemins de fer franais
(SNCF) exhibit partial control of the project
Stages in Construction
December 14, 2001
-first stone was laid
Stages in Construction
A. Raising the Piers
- each pier was supported by 4 deep shafts, 15
meters deep, 5 meters in diameter
-16, 000 tons of steel bars were used
Stages in Construction
-every three days, each pylon increased in
height by 3 meters
Stages in Construction
B. Launching the Deck
-The operation was automated by Buonomo with a
welding robot and plasma cutting machine.
-This was the longest launch ever attempted over
the highest piers in the world.
Stages in Construction
Stages in Construction
C. Meeting at the Junction
May 28,2004
-north and south deck met
-result of 21 months of
intense work
Stages in Construction
D. Installing the
Pylons
-Each massive pylon
measure 90 meters high
and weighs 700 tons.
Stages in Construction
E. Installing the Staycables
-the 154 stay-cables are
expected to protect
roadway from sagging or
collapsing
-stays can be composed
of 55 to 91 high tensile
steel cables
Stages in Construction
F. Installing the Electrical System
-30km of high-current cables, 20km of fiber
optics10km of low-current cables and 357
telephone sockets
were installed
-viaduct also employs the state of the art in
terms of
instrumentation
Stages in Construction
G. Laying the Road Surface
-The team from Appia laid a special
bituminous surface
to the road
Timeline in Construction
December 14, 2001
Work begins
January 2002
March 2002
June 2002
July 2002
August 2003
September 2002
Timeline in Construction
November 2002
November 2003
May 28,2004
official inauguration