World's Tallest Road Bridge

The Millau bridge is now the world's tallest road bridge. It stands high above the Tarn valley in France's Massif Central mountains.

The four-lane, 1.5-mile-long (2,460-meter) bridge, which took more than three years to build, is made of steel and some 205,000 tons of concrete.

At its highest the roadway is suspended 885 feet (270 meters) above the Tarn River. It was inaugurated in December.

The bridge is visible in this satellite image (right) released yesterday by the European Space Agency.

The tallest suspension bridge in the world is the Colorado's Royal Gorge Bridge, a pedestrian bridge reaching 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River. The Kochertal bridge in Germany was the previous record holder, at 607 feet, for a roadway.

It is supported by seven concrete pillars, each taller than the Eiffel Tower (the bridge was built by the Eiffage construction group, builders of that historic Paris landmark; Sir Norman Foster designed it).

The bridge connects Paris to the Mediterranean, bypassing the town of Millau, which had experienced summer traffic congestion.

-- LiveScience Staff

Credit: Top: AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Satellite: ESA/Proba