Viaduc de Clécy, Railway bridge in Clécy, France.
The Viaduc de Clécy, also called the viaduc de la Lande, is a stone railway bridge over the Orne near the hamlet of La Lande. It has nine arches and measures 108 metres long, built for two tracks though only one is laid. Its light brown and grey brickwork, round-headed arches and broad piers rise from blocky stone bases beside the water.
The structure was built in 1866 under the direction of architect M. Verjat and began operating in 1873 as part of the Caen-Flers railway line. It was constructed by the Western Railway Company to connect communities across the valley.
The viaduct is also called viaduc de la Lande, after the hamlet of La Lande beside the Orne where it stands. It sits between the former La Lande Clécy and Clécy-Bourg stations on the Caen-Flers line, in the Suisse normande area of Normandy. A black-and-white glass negative of the bridge over the Orne was made by photographer Louis Alphonse de Brébisson.
The viaduct can be reached by walking and cycling paths that run along the Orne River banks near the hamlet of La Lande. The best way to experience it is on foot or by bicycle, as you can see the river and surrounding valley from below.
The bridge carries nine arches over 108 metres, though only one of the two planned tracks was ever laid. The rail-bikes of the Amicale pour la mise en valeur de la ligne Caen-Flers run on two other sections of the line, not across this deck. A photograph of the viaduct over the Orne was taken by Louis Alphonse de Brébisson.
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