Passerelle Victor-Schoelcher, Steel footbridge across Loire River in Nantes, France.

The Passerelle Victor-Schoelcher is a flat steel footbridge over the Madeleine arm of the Loire in Nantes, linking rue Gaston-Michel on the right bank to quai François-Mitterrand on the Île de Nantes. Its light-grey deck, 150 m long in three spans of 50.5, 50 and 50.5 m, rests on two rectangular concrete piers, with a thin metal railing and alternating white and red diamond signs.

The footbridge is named after Victor Schœlcher, under-secretary of state for the Navy during the 1848 revolution, who obtained the abolition of slavery on 27 April 1848. Nantes was France's leading slave-trading port in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1999 the works were estimated at 30 million francs.

The bridge is named after Victor Schœlcher, who obtained the abolition of slavery on 27 April 1848. It stands about 200 metres east of the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery, on a river that made Nantes France's leading slave-trading port in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The bridge connects Gaston-Michel Street on the right bank to Francois-Mitterrand Quay on the island, making pedestrian movement between the two areas straightforward. The crossing is open and provides good views of the river and surrounding areas.

The deck is not fixed: two articulations on the concrete piers and hydraulic jacks inside them, designed by Barto + Barto Architectes and Setec tpi, keep the central span at a constant height above the water. This constant air draft lets river navigation continue during high water while pedestrians keep crossing. The total length is 150 m in three spans of 50.5, 50 and 50.5 m.