railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and is now used for
bungee jumping
Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...
.
History
Built by French engineer
Gustave Eiffel
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel ( , ; Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway net ...
for the
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
to
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.Vire line, the Viaduc de la Souleuvre opened November 12, 1893. The total length of the viaduct was 364.20 m (1,200 ft), had a maximum height of 62.50 m (210 ft) and was set on five stone pillars. The height of these pillars varies between 26 m and 60 m, their bases are 18 m by 8 m and their tops are 7 m by 4 m. They were built with
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
blocks from the Vire region
quarries
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...
, each of a weight of 350 kg, and with mortar sand from the Chausey Islands, totaling 14000 m³.
Before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, about 15 trains a day crossed the viaduct. It was used by the
Germans
Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
during the War. The Allied Forces tried to destroy the viaduct in 1944, but only managed to partially damage it. More than 500
bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
s were dropped around it without hitting it. In August 1944, the viaduct was repaired by the
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...
.
When the rail line closed in 1960, the viaduct went into disrepair. Despite large local preservationist opinion campaigns, the railway platform was
demolished
Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apa ...
in 1970. Only the five large stone pillars remain.
Bungee jumping
In 1990, a permanent platform for
bungee jumping
Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...
was established by
A. J. Hackett
Allan John "A. J." Hackett (born May 1958) is a New Zealand entrepreneur who popularised the extreme sport of bungee jumping, bungy jumping. He made a bungy jump from the Eiffel Tower in 1987 and founded the first commercial bungy site in 1988. ...
atop the highest pillar. A light gangway was established where the railway platform used to be, allowing access to the platform from the side of the bridge.
Photo gallery
Image:Calvados viaduc souleuvre cpa vuegenerale.jpg, Calvados viaduct at Souleuvre
Image:Calvados viaduc souleuvre cpa voie.jpg, Entrance to the Calvados viaduct at Souleuvre
Image:Saut à l'élastique Superman - Viaduc de la Souleuvre.JPG, Bungee jump from the Souleuvre Viaduct
Image:Bungie-Jumping.jpg, Bungee Jump from Viaduc de la Souleuvre