If you are travelling from our Belle Isle sur Risle hotel to Le Havre, you have two choices for crossing the Seine estuary: the Pont de Tancarville and the Pont de Normandie.
The Tancarville bridge is the eldest; work began in 1955 and it came into service on 2nd July 1959. Before it, to cross from one bank of the Seine to the other, you had to take a ferry (and be subject to tide times). 24,000 kilometres of steel wire were needed for its construction, and its 123-metre-high pylons represented a world record (as they were twice as high as Notre Dame cathedral in Paris)
With the rapid increase of road traffic, the idea of a second bridge linking Honfleur to Deauville and Caen to Le Havre was born in 1972. The aim was to improve access to Brittany and the wider South West. The Pont de Normandie was therefore built on a mammoth scale.
Work on the Pont de Normandie took 7 years (1988 to 1995) and involved 10 million man-hours. The bridge was designed by engineer Michel Virlogeux, who is also the brain behind the Millau Viaduct and the Térénez Bridge. This discreet and ultimately little-known engineer designed more than 200 bridges, earning him the nickname of ‘world bridge champion’. He put France at the top of the world rankings in terms of engineering.
Officially inaugurated on 20th January 1995 by Prime Minister Edouard Balladur and brought into service on 26th January, the Pont de Normandie is a true technological feat: 2141.25 m long, 204 m high pylons, a central span of 856 metres and a width of 23.60 metres. When it was inaugurated, it was the largest cable-stayed bridge in the world, shattering the record for this type of ‘self-balancing’ structure. It is still admired now by the entire world.
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When it was built, it was a real technological challenge. It was absolutely essential to cross the channel at a height of at least 50 metres in order not to interfere with river navigation. The bridge was built at the estuary of the Seine, which meant it had to withstand strong winds of up to 180 km at times. Two large pylons weighing 20,000 tonnes and the height of the Tour Montparnasse (204 metres) were required.
The environmental factor was also taken into account: two years before its inauguration, the Seine Estuary Nature Reserve was created. Many say that the construction of the embankment leading to the Pont de Normandie contributed to the decline of mudflats that had been nibbled away by previous structures.
The total cost of the project was 419 million euros, partly financed by a 386 million euro loan. Today, on average, more than 8 million motorists use the bridge every year, around 22,000 a day.
The 20th January 2025 marked the 30th anniversary of its construction. Even today, this emblematic structure represents much more than just an engineering structure, it is also a symbol for Le Havre and Normandy. If you’re coming to Belle Isle sur Risle, don’t hesitate to take a trip over the Pont de Normandie … the panorama is magnificent and unique, and the beauty of the structure is worth it.
