The Millau Viaduct in southern France is a cable-stayed bridge. The road deck is suspended from steel cables, not arches.
The tallest pier and pylon reach 1,125 feet (343 meters) above the Tarn valley.
It is the tallest structure in France.
It stands 43 feet above the Eiffel Tower.
The deck crosses 890 feet (270 meters) above the river at its highest point, making it the highest road deck on a bridge in Europe.
It is 8,070 feet (2,460 meters) long.
The longest span between supports is 1,122 feet (342 meters).
The Eiffel Tower would fit upright in that gap.
The bridge is more than a road over a drop.
The deck alone weighs 36,000 tons. Slanted steel stay cables carry that load to the piers.
British architect Norman Foster says his first look at the finished bridge left him so anxious he nearly felt sick.
He agonized over the color of the 154 cables.
Light cables would vanish into the sky.
They would stand out against the land.
And 1,125 feet?
It is a tower that does not stand in a city, but holds a road over a valley, and still beats the Eiffel.
From far away the piers look like needles in mist.
A tower symbolizes height.
Here height carries cars.
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