Pont d'Arcole

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Pont d'Arcole
The Pont d'Arcole
Crosses	River Seine
Locale	Paris, France
Design	Alphonse Oudry Nicolas Cadiat
Total length	80 m
Height	20 m
Beginning date of construction	1854
Completion date	1856
Opening date	1856
Coordinates	48°51′21″N 02°21′03″E / 48.85583, 2.35083

This article is on the bridge in Paris. For the bridge in Arcole after which it and the battle of the bridge of Arcole are named, see Battle of the Bridge of Arcole.

The Pont d'Arcole is a bridge in Paris over the River Seine. It is served by the Metro station Hôtel de Ville.

[edit] History

Called the passerelle de Grève for the first two years of its life, its present name - according to the most generally accepted hypothesis - cames from the Battle of the Bridge of Arcole, in which Napoleon defeated in the Austrians in 1796. The other hypothesis is that a young republican killed in the "Three Glorious Days" of the July Revolution - cut down as he planted the tricolour - cried "Remember that I am called Arcole" just before his death.

The 1848 suspension bridge

Called for since the 18th century, it was only in 1828 that a suspension bridge for pedestrians with two 6m-wide carriageways was built by Marc Seguin between place de Grève (now Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville) and the île de la Cité. In 1854 it was replaced by a more solid metal structure that could also be used by vehicle traffic. The pont d'Arcole was innovative in that it was the first unsupported bridge across the Seine to be made entirely in wrought iron rather than cast iron. Nevertheless, on 16 February 1888 it suddenly sagged by 20cm and had to be consolidated. It was only between 1994 and 1995 that the city council made overall repairs to the bridge's roadways, reviewing its waterproofing and paintwork at the same time.

The bridge is also historically notable in that it was over this bridge that the first tanks of Général Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division rolled on their way to the place de l'hôtel de ville during the Liberation of Paris in August 1944.