Pont de Saint-Cloud

The Pont de Saint-Cloud (Bridge of Saint-Cloud) is a metal bridge which crosses the Seine between the communes of Boulogne-Billancourt and Saint-Cloud in the department of Hauts-de-Seine just west of Paris, France.

The first Pont de Saint-Cloud appeared in 841 because of a conflict between Charles the Bald et Lothaire I; it consisted of a wooden bridge supporting several mills.^[1] Although the Seine has been traversable at this location for twelve centuries, tradition holds that no king of France has traversed it on the bridge without suffering a sudden death. As a result, sovereigns crossed the Seine by boat. The wooden bridge was demolished after the death of François I. In 1556 his son Henri II constructed a new stone bridge consisting of eleven arches.

This bridge was in turn demolished during the Second Fronde and replaced with a bridge made of wooden arches. Napoléon ordered its renovation in 1808, giving it a new width of 12.8 metres (14.0 yd). It was again reconstructed in 1940, expanded another 30 metres (33 yd) for a total width of 186 metres (203 yd). The single-piece deck crosses the entire river, supported by six columns of reinforced concrete.^[2] In order to facilitate circulation across the banks, underground passages have been built on the two sides of the river.

A Métro station, Boulogne–Pont de Saint-Cloud, the western terminus of Line 10 in Boulogne-Billancourt, has been named after the bridge.

References

^ Base Mérimée: Pont dit Pont de Saint-Cloud, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
^ Île-de-France, Les guides bleus collection, Hachette, 1963 (in French)

48°50′28″N 2°13′25″E / 48.84111°N 2.22361°E / 48.84111; 2.22361

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[1] Base Mérimée: Pont dit Pont de Saint-Cloud, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)

[GB-2] Île-de-France, Les guides bleus collection, Hachette, 1963 (in French)

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