Pont Louis-Philippe

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Pont Louis-Philippe
The Pont Louis-Philippe.
Official name	Pont Louis-Philippe
Carries	Motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles
Crosses	The Seine River
Locale	Paris, France
Design	Arch Bridge
Total length	100m ( feet)
Width	15.2m (72 feet)
Clearance below	?
Coordinates	48°51′14″N 02°21′16″E / 48.85389, 2.35444

Pont Louis-Philippe is a bridge across the River Seine in Paris. It is located in the IVe arrondissement and links the quartier Notre-Dame with the quartier Saint-Gervais. It is served by the Pont Marie station of the Paris Metro.

[edit] History

On 29 July 1833, to celebrate his accession to the throne following the "Trois Glorieuses", Louis-Philippe laid the first stone for a previously nameless suspension bridge, located on the extension of rue du Pont Louis Philippe (still under this name). Built by Marc Seguin and his brothers, it crossed the Seine to the quai aux Fleurs across the Île Saint-Louis. It was opened to traffic one year later, on 26 July 1834. After the French Revolution of 1848 (during which the bridge and its toll posts were burnt down) it was restored and renamed "Pont de la Réforme", a name it held until 1852.

Drawing of 1840

Drawing of 1846

In the face of increased traffic (the toll posts had not been restored), it was demolished to be replaced by the present structure in 1860. This was built by the engineers Edmond-Jules Féline-Romany and Jules Savarin between August 1860 and April 1862, a little further upstream than its predecessor. This time, it went straight across the Seine, along its whole width. One hundred metres long and 15.2m wide in total, the pont Louis-Philippe was inaugurated on April 1862. Each of the 4m wide piles in the Seine was decorated with a stone crown of foliage surrounding a metallic rosette.

The only modification since then (unlike its contemporary, the pont de Bercy) was the replacement of the stone guardrail (very damaged by pollution) with identical replicas in 1995.