Pont de Meung-sur-Loire, Steel bridge in Meung-sur-Loire, France.
The Pont de Meung-sur-Loire is a four-span steel suspension bridge over the Loire, 271 m long and 7 m wide between the inner faces of its pylons and abutment obelisks. Its red-painted deck carries the D18 road on a steel frame with a reinforced concrete slab, hung by thin cables from pale pylons that rise from the water, one line of them standing on a small island midstream.
A bridge at Meung is first documented in accounts of Joan of Arc, who took it from the English on 15 June 1429; that structure stood about 450 m upstream of today's crossing and was later damaged by floods. A ferry served until the first modern bridge, authorised by royal decree of 17 April 1834. Burned by French troops on 21 September 1870, it was rebuilt in 1872-1874, rebuilt again in 1925 on the existing piers, destroyed in June 1940 and returned to service in 1948.
A plaque at the Relais Louis XI on the right bank, near the remains of the old bridge, recalls Joan of Arc's capture of the crossing from the English on 15 June 1429. The old bridge stood about 450 metres upstream of today's structure.
The bridge carries the D18 regional road and connects the two municipalities on either side. It is located in the Loire valley, approximately 18 kilometers downstream from Orleans.
The 1948 deck and suspension were rebuilt, but the piers were not: the present bridge still stands on the foundations of the 1834 structure, which were never altered. The concrete blocks placed around the piers and abutments in the 1920s remain visible in the river.
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