Marc SEGUIN

The First Suspension Bridges Built in Rhône-Alpes

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The success of the Tournon-Tain bridge triggered a mania for suspended structures, particularly in the current Rhône-Alpes region.

Projects are flourished in Lyon sur la Saône, Grenoble sur le Drac, in the department of Ardèche, in Ain, etc.

Among the very first works carried out entirely using the Seguin technique, with cables, are the bridges of Thévenet, an architect from Tournon who was the Seguin site manager for the 1825 bridge.

He then directed the construction of Andance – Andancette on the Rhône and the Doux bridge at Tournon – Saint-Jean (today replaced by a concrete structure).

They were both put out to tender in 1827 and immediately set about opening the following year. With the Fourques bridge (Bouches-du-Rhône) on the Petit Rhône, the Andance-Andancette structure is today the most faithful witness to the general architecture of the first Seguin style suspension bridges, the porticos of entrance in particular.