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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The viaduct of Neuvial, located between the municipalities of Mazerier and Bègues in Allier, was built in 1869 by the Eiffel and Cie company on the Commentry-Gannat line. It crossed a valley descending to the Sioule and entered the Lyon-Bordeaux railway project, taken over by the Compagnie du Paris-Orléans. Its name comes from the neighbouring village of Neuvial, on the right bank of the river.

Designed by engineer Wilhelm Nördling for the Compagnie du Paris-Orléans, his creation was supervised by Gustave Eiffel and his partner Théophile Seyrig. This viaduct, along with that of Rouzat, marks the beginnings of the metal railway construction of Eiffel, well before its famous works such as the Garabit viaduct (1884) or the Maria Pia bridge (1877). It combines masonry (columns and piles) and metal structure, with a central pillar in columns connected by crosses of Saint Andrew.

The viaduct was listed as a historical monument on December 8, 1965, along with the one in Rouzat. Four viaducts of the Commentry-Gannat line are now protected, demonstrating the heritage importance of this 19th century railway infrastructure. The departmental road 37 passes twice under construction, which remains a key crossing point for the Lyon-Bordeaux and Clermont-Ferrand-Montluçon routes.

Its structure rests on masonry abutments at each end, of which the western one forms a large arch. The metal deck, supported by a central pillar, extends eastward by a separate span connecting to a masonry pile. This hybrid design illustrates the technical innovations of the time, combining robustness and architectural elegance.

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