Not the Eiffel Tower

There is a rest area overlooking this famous bridge. When I first saw it years ago, I thought how similar the iron work is to the Eiffel Tower, only to later discover that, in fact, it is his work. At 124 metres above the river, the bridge was the world's highest arch bridge when it was built. The overall project cost was 3,100,000 francs. Until 11th September 2009, one regular passenger train each way passed daily over the viaduct: a Corail route from Clermont-Ferrand to Béziers. On that date, the viaduct closed after cracks were discovered in one of the foundation piles. After a safety inspection, the Garabit viaduct reopened the following month, with a speed limit of 6 mph for all traffic. It dominates the valley and makes an interesting comparison to the ultramodern Millau viaduct not far away, itself one of the engineering wonders of the 20th century. The journey to our halfway stop was long but uneventful.