Pont de la Guillotière, Bridge over the Rhône in Lyon, France

The Pont de la Guillotière is a 205.45 m long and 30 m wide road bridge over the Rhône in Lyon, linking the Rue de la Barre on the Presqu'île with the Cours Gambetta on the left bank. Built between 1952 and 1958, it rests on two reinforced-concrete piers clad in natural stone, with spans of 58.70, 88.05 and 58.70 m. Three slightly haunched steel box girders carry a thin concrete deck with asphalt, edged by white railings and evenly spaced lamp posts.

A wooden bridge, completed around 1183, collapsed in 1190 under the crusaders' crossing; rebuilt in wood and stone, it was only finished in the early 14th century. From 1558 Lyon replaced it with a stone bridge, damaged by the December 1570 flood and repaired between 1579 and 1582. The present steel bridge was decided in 1952, built from 1952 to 1958, and opened to traffic on 21 February 1958.

The name comes from La Guillotière, the left-bank suburb the bridge reached; until 1947 the nearby square was still called place du Pont. The bridge was long the only crossing of the Rhône in Lyon and closed at night, and on 11 October 1711 a crowd returning from the Saint-Denis fair at Bron was crushed against a carriage and cart, killing 241 people.

The bridge is easily accessible on foot and served by multiple tram and bus lines stopping at both ends. Visitors get the best river views from the pedestrian walkways that run along the crossing.

The bridge displays a combination of metal framework and concrete construction typical of postwar rebuilds. This style is often overlooked compared to older crossings in the city, yet it gives the waterfront a distinct character.