Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Bordeaux stone bridge, built between 1810 and 1822 during the reigns of Napoleon I and Louis XVIII, is a 487-metre masonry bridge crossing the Garonne River. Designed by engineers Claude Deschamps and Jean-Baptiste Billaudel, it has 17 arches based on 16 batteries. Its mixed funding (State and Compagnie du pont de Bordeaux) allowed its completion despite technical and budgetary difficulties. Initially planned in wood, it was finally made of stone and brick, with hollow interior galleries to lighten the structure.

The construction began in 1810 under the impetus of Napoleon I, who wanted to facilitate military transport and revive the Bordeaux economy, weakened by the continental blockade. The work was interrupted in 1814 due to a lack of funds and then resumed in 1818 thanks to a public-private partnership. The Compagnie du pont de Bordeaux, led by the merchant Pierre Balguerie-Stuttenberg, brought 2 million francs in exchange for a toll. The bridge was inaugurated on 1 May 1822 after 12 years of construction, marked by floods and problems of foundations.

The bridge transformed Bordeaux town planning by allowing annexation of the district of La Bastide in 1865, after the city bought the toll in 1863. Originally 14.6 metres wide, it was extended to 19 metres in 1954 to accommodate four traffic lanes, cycle paths and sidewalks. The toll pavilions, decorated with doric columns, were demolished during this enlargement. In 2003, two lanes were reserved for trams, and since 2018 the bridge is reserved for trams, bicycles and pedestrians.

Unlike a tenacious legend, the number of 17 arches does not correspond to the letters of "Napoléon Bonaparte". Originally 19 arches were planned, but two were abolished in 1819 for budgetary and architectural reasons. The batteries, based on 220 piles of pine and fir buried 10 metres deep, required innovative techniques, such as using a British diving bell to stabilize foundations. The materials, including Saint-Macaire stone and La Bastide brick, were chosen for their resistance.

The bridge inspired many artists, such as Ambroise Louis Garneray and Jacques-Raymond Brassasat, who represented him in 1821. He was also immortalized on stamps, including one issued in 2004 to celebrate the Bordeaux tramway. Ranked a historic monument in 2002, it remains a symbol of Bordeaux's industrial and architectural heritage, despite the challenges posed by its maintenance, such as the differential settlements of certain batteries (up to 50 cm since 1821).

External links