A little history of Bordeaux pont de Pierre

Originally, it was Mr. Trudaine, general intendant, who wanted to raise a bridge (Pont de Pierre in French) on the river Garonne in 1772.

But the plan was very ambitious, difficult, too! Oh, the Garonne is a pretty capricious river, you know.

Here, in Bordeaux, the Garonne is deep, large, controlled by tides and quick currents.

When the tide is up, a kind of big, big wave appears, because the salty water brought by tides meets with the river waters.

So there was a problem. But Napoleon came! And he wanted to build that bloody bridge! In 1808, he raised a wooden bridge, then, 2 years later, they started a stony one.

Finally, on September 29th 1821, it was inaugurated! 487 metres long, 15 metres large, it has 17 arches and 16 stony piers.