Pont Wilson, Road bridge in Lyon, France

Pont Wilson is a 220 m road bridge over the Rhône in Lyon, linking Rue Childebert in the 2nd arrondissement with Rue Servient in the 3rd. It has four segmental arches of 45, 49, 49 and 45 m plus a 19 m round arch, each field built of two parallel limestone arches 10.8 m apart, carrying a raised reinforced-concrete deck.

Construction of the bridge began in October 1912 to a design by Paul Séjourné and was largely finished by 1916, during the First World War. Its formal inauguration took place on 14 July 1918, when a parade of American, British, Italian and French troops marked the event and the bridge was named after US President Woodrow Wilson. In 1944 German troops blew up the left arch, which was rebuilt identically in 1948.

The bridge is named after Woodrow Wilson, the 28th US president, by a municipal decision of 24 June 1918. Its inauguration on 14 July 1918, Bastille Day, was marked by a parade of American, British, Italian and French troops. In 1989 it became the first site in Lyon lit under the city's first lighting plan.

You can cross on foot or by vehicle depending on your destination and preferred route. The pedestrian paths are clearly separated from the roadway, though the bridge can get quite busy during rush hours.

The bridge's deck rests on a reinforced concrete slab carried by paired limestone arches, a design by Paul Séjourné. In 1993 a barge weighing over 90 tonnes struck one of the piers during a Rhône flood. Since 2016 the lighting drops to 60% of normal output between midnight and six in the morning.