Briare Canal Bridge
7km away from the L'Echappée Belle B&B is a remarkable monument!
Although located in the small town of Briare, this architectural monument is also a magnificent natural site where water is omnipresent and the Loire is its ambassador.
Crossing the Loire could be difficult! Between the sandbanks, the low or high water level, the river being frozen in winter, the floods... every year there were several deaths. So a solution had
to be found to cross the Loire. A side canal was therefore built and to go from one bank to the other, the canal-bridge was the obvious solution!
This bridge-canal over the Loire was built in four years from 1890 to 1894 by 2,000 workers to allow the crossing of the wild river and facilitate commercial navigation to Paris.
Given the length and weight of the water (13,000 tonnes), a metal structure was chosen for the Briare Canal Bridge. More precisely, mild steel with a low carbon content, which is more
flexible.
Gustave Eiffel's workshops, which at that time were building the Tower of the same name, were involved in part of the construction of this structure. They contributed to the foundations and the
14 stone pillars that support the metal part, spaced 40 metres apart.
The Briare Canal Bridge is 662.69 metres long, making it the longest metal bridge in Europe.
Its width of 11.60 metres does not allow boats to pass each other, so it was necessary to wait for the passage in one direction and then in the other to cross. At the end of the 19th century,
about thirty boats passed by every day.
Today, the donkey-drawn barges have been replaced by pleasure boats and you can take a trip on the canal bridge. The wide pavements that have replaced the towpath allow you to cross it on foot or
by bike and admire the landscape but also the remarkable workmanship of the metal part. The charm of this place is reinforced by the presence of various works: cast iron barriers, statues,
lampposts...
When night falls, the Briare canal bridge is illuminated. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was the only site in the Loiret region to be lit by electricity thanks to turbines and dynamos
located in a specific room. Many people from the surrounding area came to watch the illumination of the bridge-canal!
You will also be able to see the Briare power station built at the same time as the canal bridge, which provided a permanent water supply.
Do you know...?
- The workers worked by hand and right-handed people were paid more than left-handed people.
- About five million rivets were needed to assemble the metal part of the bridge.
- Briare has another speciality: enamels.
If you are interested in this story and would like to learn more, you can visit the Musée des deux Marines, at the entrance to Briare from L'Echappée Belle. The Musée des Émaux de Briare is also nearby.
Chambres d'Hôtes L’Échappée Belle
Les Riaux
45500 Saint Brisson sur Loire- Loiret - FRANCE
e-mail: contact@lecb.fr
Tél.: 02 38 87 75 87
