Viaduc de Chillon, Concrete road bridge near Chillon Castle in Veytaux, Switzerland.
The Viaduc de Chillon is a 2,100.5-meter prestressed concrete viaduct on the A9 autoroute between Montreux and Villeneuve, above Chillon Castle. It consists of two parallel hollow-box decks, each 13 meters wide, with 23 spans and piers up to 44 meters high. The decks have variable depth, from 2.20 meters in mid-span to 5.64 meters over supports.
Built from 1966 and finished in 1969, the viaduct was planned by Jean-Claude Piguet, Roland Hofer and Maurice Tappy for the Consortium des Viaducs de Chillon. It was the first Swiss project to use free cantilever construction with precast segments, glued with epoxy resin and lifted by a steel gantry crane resting on the pier and the finished deck, a method Jean Muller had just applied at the Oléron viaduct.
The viaduct takes its name from Chillon Castle, which it overlooks from the eastern shore of Lake Geneva. Its alignment was chosen partly to spare the forest and to respect views of the fortress below. The structure is listed as a Swiss cultural property of national significance.
The viaduct is easily accessible for drivers as part of the A9 autoroute with no special detours needed. Pedestrians and cyclists have limited access since the bridge functions primarily as a high-speed highway route.
The viaduct was the first project in Switzerland to use precast segmental construction with a launching gantry, a method engineer Jean Muller had just applied at the Oléron Viaduct in France. The deck is a prestressed concrete box girder whose depth varies from 2.20 metres in mid-span to between 5.0 and 5.64 metres over the piers.
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