The Gueuroz Bridge is a

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

arched

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

History

The bridge crosses the gorges of the Trient at a height of 187 meters between Vernayaz and Salvan and connects Salvan to

Martigny Martigny (; , ; ) is the capital city of the district of Martigny (district), Martigny, cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Valais, Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of , and its population is approximately 20,000 inhabitants ( ...

. The bridge was constructed between 1931 and 1934 and held the record of highest bridge in Europe for 29 years before being dethroned by the

Europabrücke __NOTOC__ The Europa Bridge or Bridge of Europe (''Europabrücke'') is a bridge carrying the A13 Brenner Autobahn (and European route E45) over the Wipp valley just south of Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria. The bridge spans the Sill River, and f ...

in 1963. The Gueuroz Bridge has a length of 168.36 m. The engineers charged with the project were Alexandre Sarrasin (1895-1976) for the study and Richard Coray for the construction. Sarrasin managed to solve vibration problems and was a pioneer in the field of large

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

structures.

New bridge

A new bridge was constructed in 1994 next to the original structure. It was constructed so as not to hide the architecture of the original bridge, which now holds pedestrian and cyclist traffic. Road traffic has been diverted to the new bridge.

References

{{Portal, Switzerland, Transport, Engineering Road bridges in Switzerland Bridges completed in 1934 1934 establishments in Switzerland