Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Vallée Bridge is a masonry structure dating from at least the 18th century, with an initial wooden apron. He spans the Nantaise Sèvre in Clisson, in the current Loire-Atlantique department. Archives show that in 1741, the wooden bridge was severely damaged by winter floods, making it impossible for carts to pass. The local count ordered repairs, but his structure remained precarious, as evidenced by the reports of 1769 describing a dilapidated state and a limited utility to the connection between Clisson and his suburb of the Trinity, crossed by the road from Nantes to Poitiers.

In 1759, a road map showed triangular beak piles, which are still visible today. The states of Brittany specified in 1770 that only the stone bridge on the Moena (other river) would be financed by the Province, excluding that of the Sèvre, made of wood. The current masonry reconstruction would therefore date from the late 18th or early 19th century, keeping the old piles. Its six arches with variable openings (from 4.30 m to 10.10 m) and triangular fore-beeks on the upstream side illustrate this architectural evolution.

Ranked a historic monument on March 20, 1922, the Valley Bridge symbolizes the adaptation of infrastructure to local needs and natural constraints. Its history reflects tensions between provincial and local management, as well as the strategic importance of roads such as the one between Nantes and Poitiers. Today owned by the municipality of Clisson, there remains a material testimony of pre-industrial construction techniques and river planning in the Pays de la Loire.

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