Pont de la Caille, Suspension bridge in Allonzier-la-Caille and Cruseilles, France
Pont de la Caille is a suspension bridge connecting two municipalities in Haute-Savoie, rising 147 meters above the Les Usses river. It spans 192 meters and is supported by four towers that carry the cable system across the valley.
Commissioned by Charles Albert, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia, the bridge was built under engineers Émile Fulrand Belin, Paul-Léon Lehaître and Charles Berthier and inaugurated on 11 July 1839. From its completion until 1912 it was the highest bridge in the world, at 147 m above the Les Usses. It was listed as a monument historique on 6 May 1966.
The bridge is named after Charles-Albert, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia, who ordered it and inaugurated it on 11 July 1839; the name Caille comes from the Usses gorge below, where the Caille baths, known to the Romans, stood. The 11th stage of the 1919 Tour de France, Grenoble to Geneva, crossed it on 19 July 1919.
The bridge is now open only to pedestrians and cyclists, with motorized traffic using the adjacent concrete bridge instead. Access is available year-round, though conditions vary with the season and weather.
From its opening in 1839 until 1912, the Pont de la Caille was the highest bridge in the world, at 147 metres above the Les Usses. Its four masonry towers are 22 metres tall and 3.8 metres in diameter, and each of the three cables per side is made of 270 strands, giving a diameter of 65 mm.
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