The real thing

Before taking the motorway, I decided this morning to drive past the Viaduc de Garabit, an illustration of whose construction I blipped yesterday.  It was a short but pleasant drive to the Truyère gorges through the beautiful countryside of the southern Auvergne.  The viaduct opened with a single track in November 1885.  It is 565 metres long and weighs 3,587 tonnes. Even more impressive is the actual movement when under load, which was measured at 8 millimetres, a figure precisely anticipated by Eiffel’s calculations. The bridge was also, when built, the highest in the world at 124 m above the river. The overall project cost was 3,100,000 francs ( around £30,000,00 in today's money).  Until 11 September 2009, only one regular passenger train per day in each direction used to pass over the viaduct - a route from Clermont-Ferrand to Béziers. On that date, the viaduct was closed as cracks were discovered in one of the foundation piles. It reopened one month later after a safety inspection and has been in service since then with a speed limit of 10 km/h (6 mph) for all traffic.
The rest of the journey was uneventful and I am now looking to put my feet up this evening with the unpacking done.