Pont de Venterol, Stone bridge between Valserres and Venterol, France
The Pont de Venterol is a road bridge over the Durance about 15 km downstream of the Serre-Ponçon dam, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, its north end on the Hautes-Alpes border. The current crossing, opened on 26 July 2010, rests on two 57-metre steel beams in a single span, with a 5-metre-wide deck fixed by 500 micro-piles into the abutments.
A ferry called the "bac de l'archidiacre", judged unsafe, was replaced in 1864 by a 53.6-metre single-span suspension bridge. Its deck was only 2.20 metres wide, and engineers of the Ponts et chaussées demanded improvements as early as 1886. Closed in October 2009 and demolished, it gave way to a metal-beam bridge opened on 26 July 2010.
The bridge takes its name from Venterol, the village on the southern bank, while its northern end lies at the edge of the Hautes-Alpes. Until 1864 a ferry known as the "bac de l'archidiacre" crossed the Durance here; the 1864 suspension bridge replaced it, and the 2010 metal bridge replaced that.
The current bridge, opened to traffic on 26 July 2010, carries a 5-metre-wide deck on two 57-metre steel beams in a single span. It stands about 15 km downstream of the Serre-Ponçon dam; its northern end, on the right bank, lies at the edge of the Hautes-Alpes. The stone arch gateway beside the road bears a 3.5-tonne limit sign.
The old suspension bridge was replaced in 2009–2010 by a metal girder bridge with two 57-metre single-span beams and a 5-metre deck, fixed by 500 micro-piles in the abutments. It cost 1.9 million euros and opened to traffic on 26 July 2010.
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