L'Isle-Jourdain Viaduct, Stone viaduct in L'Isle-Jourdain and Le Vigeant, France.
The L'Isle-Jourdain Viaduct is a former railway bridge over the Vienne, 304 metres long and 40.25 metres high, with 12 arches each spanning 20 metres. Built from stone quarried at La Rallerie, Chez Dara, Lussac-les-Châteaux and Le Pas de la Mule, it has a flat top and tall piers rising from the water.
This bridge was built between 1882 and 1884 to carry a railway line across the valley. After the railway closed in 1969, the structure adapted to serve different purposes for the communities it crossed.
The viaduct is now promoted by L'Isle-Jourdain as an emblem of the ecotourism it has fostered since the second half of the 20th century. Bungee jumping is practised from the structure, drawing visitors to the Vienne valley.
The viaduct is not open to pedestrians: it is a former railway structure, and crossing it on foot is not possible. Visitors reach it from the banks of the Vienne, where the piers and arches are seen from below. Bungee jumping is practised there, so access to the deck is reserved for that activity.
The bridge now hosts bungee jumping activities, giving this former railway structure an entirely new life and purpose. This unexpected use shows how old infrastructure can find unexpected second careers in modern times.
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