Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, Steel footbridge in Paris, France
The passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor is a metal footbridge crossing the Seine in a single arch with no pier in the river, linking quai Anatole-France with the Tuileries Garden. Its deck is covered in azobé, an African wood, and the structure rests at each end on concrete pillars sunk 15 metres into the ground. It was built between 1997 and 1999 by engineer-architect Marc Mimram, with six 150-tonne components made by Eiffel Constructions métalliques.
A cast-iron bridge inaugurated by Napoleon III in 1861 first carried vehicles here, built by engineers Paul-Martin Gallocher de Lagalisserie and Jules Savarin and named after the 1859 Battle of Solférino. Weakened by barge collisions, it was replaced in 1961 by a steel footbridge, demolished in 1992. Marc Mimram's single-arch footbridge opened on 14 December 1999 and was renamed on 9 October 2006 for the centenary of Léopold Sédar Senghor's birth.
The bridge was named in 2006 after Léopold Sédar Senghor, a Senegalese poet and statesman, honoring his role in francophone culture and African-French relations. The naming reflects Paris's connection to colonial and postcolonial history.
The bridge has two levels that meet at the centre, so you can step down to the quays or stay on the upper walkway; on the right bank a subterranean passage leads to the Tuileries Garden. The ipê decking became slippery in rain, so an anti-slip coating was added after opening. Benches line the crossing.
The bridge's deck is clad in azobé, an African hardwood also used for outdoor flooring at the Bibliothèque nationale de France; the French sources name this timber, while the English article calls it Brazilian ipê. Six 150-tonne steel components were assembled by Eiffel Constructions métalliques, the firm descended from Gustave Eiffel's workshops.
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