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Pont de Grenelle - Paris 15th

Patrimoine classé
Pont
Paris

Pont de Grenelle - Paris 15th

    Pont de Grenelle
    75015 Paris
Pont de Grenelle - Paris 15ème
Pont de Grenelle - Paris 15ème
Pont de Grenelle - Paris 15ème

Timeline

Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1800
1900
2000
1827
Construction of first bridge
1830
Debacle and Three Glories
1874
Second cast iron deck
1918
Bombardments during the Great War
1966-1968
Construction of the current bridge
18 juin 2016
Renaming the bridge
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Key figures

Ingénieur Mallet - Manufacturer of the first bridge Structural bridge inaugurated in 1827.
Vaudrey et Pesson - Second bridge engineers Cast iron bridge built in 1874.
Guy Grattesat et Bernard Pilon - Current bridge engineers Conception between 1966 and 1968.
Cadets de Saumur - Tribute to the current name Bridge defenders in 1940.
Jean Thénault - Director of the Navigation Service Supervision of the 1968 project.

Origin and history

The Grenelle Bridge, now known as the Grenelle-Cadets-de-Saumur Bridge, is a Parisian roadway crossing the Seine between the 15th and 16th arrondissements. Inaugurated in 1968, it replaces a 1874 cast iron bridge, built after the collapse of a first wooden bridge built in 1827. Its strategic location, near the Swan Island and the replica of the Statue of Liberty, makes it an emblematic place of the capital.

The first Grenelle bridge, designed in 1827 by engineer Mallet, was a toll-frame structure, financed by private developers to serve the Beaugrenelle neighbourhood and the expanding river port. On several occasions (debacle of 1830, fire of 1847), he played a key role in the Trois Glorieuses (1830) and the Commune of Paris (1871), before finally collapsing in 1873. Its replacement by a cast iron bridge in 1874, designed by Vaudrey and Pesson, marks a modernization, although this second work also suffered damage during the First World War.

The current bridge, built between 1966 and 1968 under the direction of engineers Guy Grattesat and Bernard Pilon, is distinguished by its metal structure 220 meters long and 30 meters wide. It includes two 85-metre main spans crossing the arms of the Seine, as well as a span on the Swan Island. In 2016, he was renowned in tribute to the Cadets of Saumur, a student officer who defended the bridges of the Loire in 1940. Its functional architecture and its role in Parisian traffic make it a key element of urban heritage.

The Grenelle bridge appears in several cinematographic works, such as Pierrot le Fou (1965) for the second bridge, or Frantic (1988) for the current work. Its immediate environment, including a modern building on the 16th arrondissement and the proximity of the Charles Michels and Javel metro stations, makes it a historic and dynamic place, frequented daily by thousands of Parisians.

Its history reflects the technical and political evolutions of Paris: from the private toll of the nineteenth century to public management, to the destruction of conflicts (French-German war of 1870, Commune, First World War). The bridge thus embodies the urban transformations and logistical challenges of the capital, while maintaining a symbolic dimension, especially since its renaming in 2016.

External links