Viaduc d'Eauplet, Railway bridge between Sotteville-lès-Rouen and Bonsecours, France.
Viaduc d'Eauplet is a steel railway bridge that spans 356 meters connecting Sotteville-lès-Rouen and Bonsecours while crossing two branches of the Seine. The structure measures 10.5 meters wide and carries trains on one of the main routes linking Paris to Rouen and beyond.
A first bridge of eight timber arches on stone and concrete piers opened in 1847, after a ministerial test crossing in 1844; rioters burned two arches in February 1848 and they were rebuilt in two months. From 1856 the Ouest company replaced the timber with cast iron and steel, and in June 1914 a new steel bridge by Fives-Lille was assembled, completed in early August for wartime traffic. The old span was kept as a precaution and still appeared in 1919 guidebooks.
Because it was built with British involvement, the bridge was long called "pont aux Anglais" (Englishmen's bridge), a name still used locally. It carries the Paris–Le Havre line over the Seine and Île Lacroix, and the 1914 steel span replaced the 1844 wooden structure.
The viaduct remains active with regular train traffic and can be viewed from river paths or from observation points along the riverbanks. Plan your visit around train schedules since this is an operational railway line with consistent service throughout the day.
The old bridge was kept standing after its June 1914 replacement, as a precaution against enemy bombing, and still appeared in the 1919 Guide Bleu Normandie. The new steel span, built by Fives-Lille for about 3.5 million francs, was rushed into service in early August 1914 to carry troops and materiel.
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