Bridges

Pont Raymond Barre

Lyon

Pont Raymond Barre is a tram bridge in Lyon on the Rhône river. Reserved for soft transport modes, it connects the south of Confluence with Gerland and was completed to extend line T1 to Gerland. Dedicated to Raymond Barre, former mayor of Lyon, the bridge was designed by architect Alain Spielmann as part of the T1 extension from Montrochet to Debourg Metro station. Built downstream of Pont Pasteur, it was planned for tramways, pedestrians, and cyclists. The structure is a bow-string bridge with three spans: a central span and two side spans. Its construction included abutments on both banks, two piers in the Rhône, and a deck assembled from 1,500 tons of steel at Édouard-Herriot port before being moved to the site for installation.

Map showing the location of Pont Raymond Barre in Lyon
Location of Pont Raymond Barre in Lyon

Nearby Objects

Pont Raymond Barre

Pont Raymond Barre is a bridge in Lyon that crosses the Rhone river. It is reserved for soft transport modes and links the south of Confluence with Gerland. The bridge was completed to extend line T1 to Gerland, reflecting its role in supporting local mobility connections. It is dedicated to Raymond Barre, who served as former mayor of Lyon. As an urban crossing, the bridge combines a practical transport function with a name that recalls a figure closely associated with the city.

Bridge Design and Function

Pont Raymond Barre was designed by architect Alain Spielmann as a new bridge for the T1 tramway extension from Montrochet to Debourg Metro station in Gerland. It was built downstream of Pont Pasteur to cross the Rhone river. The bridge was planned for tramways, pedestrians, and cyclists, giving it a mixed transport role. In architectural form, it is a bow-string type bridge with three spans: one central span and two side spans. Construction began with the laying of the first stone on an unspecified date and was completed on another unspecified date.

Engineering and Construction

The metal framework of Pont Raymond Barre was calculated at the study service of the Industrial Technical Center of Metal Construction. This work used complete finite element models prepared by the same institution. Construction was carried out by a group of companies made up of Bouygues TP Regio ns France, Matiere, and Zwahlen and Mayr.

Construction and Deck Installation

Pont Raymond Barre was constructed with abutments on both banks of the river at Confluence and Gerland to support the deck. Two bridge piers were built in the Rhone river using a cofferdam. The Confluence side pier was constructed from a barge with a crane and workers, with concrete supplied from the Pasteur bridge, while the other pier was built from the shore because of its proximity. Each pier was fixed to the rocky riverbed of the Rhone by piles of concrete and steel rods.

The deck, made of 1500 tons of steel, was assembled by several dozen workers at Edouard-Herriot port, south of the final location. Its design included a central span between the two piers and two edge spans between each pier and an abutment. The central deck part, 65 meters long, was planned for positioning on May 17, 2007, but the lifting operation was canceled after a technical incident with the structure's lifting device. The bridge was placed on the transport barge on May 27, 2007, moved on the Rhone on May 29, and set on the piers on May 30, 2007. Navigation on that part of the Rhone was stopped during the transport and positioning operation. After the deck was in place, the tracks were installed and the bridge was equipped.