Witry bridge, Road bridge in Reims, France

Witry Bridge is a road bridge linking Reims to Witry-lès-Reims over the Reims–Châlons-en-Champagne railway line in the Marne department. The current structure, installed in 2022, is a metal arch bridge: two parallel light-grey arched ribs rise over the roadway, joined to the deck by vertical hangers, with a horizontal girder below resting on concrete piers. It is 68 m long, 25 m wide and 12 m high, weighs 1,100 tonnes and carries cycle lanes and two inbound lanes toward the city centre.

A first Witry bridge, a reinforced-concrete bow-string structure about 85 m long, opened in 1935 over ten railway tracks, nine of them electrified. In March 2018 the Marne prefecture barred vehicles over 19 tonnes because of its concrete condition. It was demolished by controlled explosive collapse on 19 March 2022 at noon, and the replacement span was slid into place in one piece on 29 October 2022.

The bridge carries the name of Witry-lès-Reims, the commune it links to Reims, and stands on the former route nationale 51, whose section including the bridge was transferred from the State to Le Grand Reims by a convention signed on 4 October 2018, with a balancing payment toward its repair.

The bridge is accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians and connects the city districts directly. It is a main traffic route that can become busy during peak hours.

The 1,100-tonne span was slid into place in a single piece on 29 October 2022, replacing the 1935 concrete bridge demolished by controlled explosion on 19 March 2022. The new deck is 68 m long, 25 m wide and 12 m high, with cycle lanes and two inbound lanes toward the city centre.