Garabit Viaduct, Railway viaduct in Ruynes-en-Margeride, France
The Garabit Viaduct carries a single railway track on a 565 m iron deck across the Truyère gorge, between Ruynes-en-Margeride and Val d'Arcomie. Its red-painted lattice structure rests on seven puddled-iron piers, five of them on masonry foundation blocks, and a central parabolic arch of 165 m span rises from two masonry bases with arched openings.
Léon Boyer drew up the project and Gustave Eiffel's company built the viaduct between 1880 and 1884, with Maurice Koechlin as engineer, on the Béziers–Neussargues line. The first train crossed on 28 May 1888. It was listed as a monument historique in 1965 and classified in 2017.
The viaduct carries the single-track Béziers–Neussargues line, and since 2001 it has been lit every evening. In August 1984, for its centenary, a plaque reading "A Léon Boyer, de Florac, les cantaliens reconnaissants" was placed on the masonry access estacade in memory of the engineer.
The best views come from the road below the structure, where parking areas and information panels are available. Trains cross the bridge several times each day, so visitors will likely see a crossing during their stay.
The construction of the Grandval dam in 1959 created a reservoir that raised the water level beneath the structure by 95 meters. Today the red iron framework reflects in the calm reservoir water, changing the visual impression it makes.
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