Pont Alexandre III was conceived to provide an additional crossing over the Seine to relieve the pressure of the increasing traffic flow across the neighbouring Pont de la Concorde. Exposition universelle de , Paris.
Image courtesy of Paris en Images. In order to achieve this they designed a three-hinged metal arch bridge, metres long and 40 metres wide, comprising a metre single metal arch spanning the river with two masonry viaducts on the banks. To avoid obscuring the view on either side of the bridge the central arch was kept low at just 6 metres above the water level but, in order to achieve this, very large abutments with deep foundations were required on either side. These abutments whose sides run parallel to the axis of the bridge are Both abutments sink approximately 20 metres underground.
But what was revolutionary about the construction of Pont Alexandre III was that the metalwork for the bridge was prefabricated. This was one of the first examples of prefabrication being used in the construction industry. There is more decoration on the base of the columns. Two decorative features in the form of Nymph reliefs in the centre of the bridge on either side signify the Franco-Russian Alliance.
On the upstream side, the Nymphes de la Seine avec les armes de Paris , and on the downstream side directly opposite, the Nymphes de la Neva avec les armes de la Russie. The bridge is 40 metres wide and carries six lanes of traffic, three in either direction. That is until I found an expansion joint crossing the road and it was from here that I chose to record.
I began recording on the upstream side of the bridge where I found three boats berthed together and then I walked under the bridge to the downstream side where there were some larger boats. The sounds on the upstream side are particularly unusual because the sound of the mooring ropes straining as the boats shift with the waves sound exactly as if the boats are actually breathing.
