Ancien pont suspendu franchissant la Durance et maison de gardien (également sur commune de Mérindol, dans le Vaucluse), located in Mallemort (Bouches-du-Rhône), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Suspendu au-dessus de la Durance depuis 1848, ce pont à fil de fer pionnier conjugue prouesse industrielle du XIXe siècle et paysage provençal sauvage. Un chef-d'œuvre de l'ingénierie métallique classé Monument Historique.
Between Mallemort and Mérindol, where the Durance River draws its natural border between Bouches-du-Rhône and Vaucluse, the old suspension bridge stands out as one of the most moving relics of 19th-century engineering. Its cables stretching skywards, its slender silhouette and massive pylons create a picture where industrial rigour meets the raw beauty of Provence. This is no parade bridge: it was designed to last, to withstand the whims of a dreaded river. What really sets this bridge apart is that it belongs to the first generation of French metal bridges, a direct descendant of the innovations of the Seguin brothers. The replacement of chain hangers by woven wire hangers - an innovation that corrected the Anglo-Saxon formula - gives it a deceptively light visual appearance, masking a robustness that was tested by the most violent floods of the 19th century. It's an open book on the history of mechanics applied to civil engineering. It's an unusual and striking experience. The structure is no longer used by cars, so you can walk along it, suspended above the white water, with the sensation of floating between two banks and two eras. The caretaker's house, included in the monumental protection, adds a rare human dimension: it reminds us that this bridge had its own "watchman", responsible for the maintenance and safety of the crossings. The natural setting reinforces the intensity of the site. The Durance, once a capricious river feared by the people of Provence before it was partially dammed up, offers a panorama of garrigue and limestone rock. Photographers and lovers of industrial heritage will find exceptional angles of light here, particularly at the end of the day when the setting sun gilds the metal cables. Families and hikers will appreciate the walk along the riverbank that links this bridge to other viewpoints in the valley.
The Mallemort suspension bridge is of the so-called "iron wire" type, directly derived from the research of the Seguin brothers and perfected over the decades. Its design is based on two main load-bearing cables made of woven wire strands, anchored in stone masonry blocks on each bank and passing over vertical pylons that give the deck its characteristic inverted chain curvature. The vertical hangers, also made of wire, distribute the deck load evenly over the entire length of the structure. By replacing the original British hinged chains with continuous cables, this formula reduced the structure's own weight while improving the uniformity of tension. The pylons, built of cut local limestone, feature the sober, functional architecture typical of the engineering structures of the July Monarchy and the Second Empire: pedestals with wider bases, slightly humped shafts and tops designed to accommodate the cable clevises. The caretaker's cottage on the river bank is a vernacular Provençal building with lime rendering and a low-pitched canal tile roof, contrasting with the modern metal of the bridge itself, creating an architectural dialogue between local tradition and industrial innovation. Arnodin's work between 1882 and 1892 involved reinforcing or replacing the cables in accordance with his own patented helical cabling, as well as consolidating the anchorages. The whole structure, which spans the width of the Durance in a single main span, offers a structural elegance that was long considered one of the fundamental aesthetic criteria of nineteenth-century suspended engineering.
Ancien pont suspendu franchissant la Durance et maison de gardien (également sur commune de Mérindol, dans le Vaucluse) is located in Mallemort, Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
Ancien pont suspendu franchissant la Durance et maison de gardien (également sur commune de Mérindol, dans le Vaucluse) dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Ancien pont suspendu franchissant la Durance et maison de gardien (également sur commune de Mérindol, dans le Vaucluse) is currently closed to visitors.
