Pont de la Concorde (Paris)

For other uses, see Pont de la Concorde (disambiguation).

Pont de la Concorde (1791)
The bridge in 1829, with the 12 statues
Coordinates	48°51′48.32″N 02°19′10.49″E / 48.8634222°N 2.3195806°E / 48.8634222; 2.3195806
Crosses	River Seine
Locale	Paris, France
Characteristics
Design	Jean-Rodolphe Perronet
Total length	153 metres (502 ft)^[1]
Width	18 metres (59 ft)
Opened	1791

Pont de la Concorde (2005)
View from the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor (formerly Solferino)
Coordinates	48°51′48.32″N 02°19′10.49″E / 48.8634222°N 2.3195806°E / 48.8634222; 2.3195806
Crosses	River Seine
Locale	Paris, France
Next upstream	Passerelle Léopold- Sédar-Senghor
Next downstream	Pont Alexandre III
Characteristics
Design	Henri Lang
Total length	153 metres (502 ft)^[2]
Width	34 metres (112 ft)
Opened	1932

The Pont de la Concorde is an arch bridge across the River Seine in Paris connecting the Quai des Tuileries at the Place de la Concorde (on the Right Bank) and the Quai d'Orsay (on the Left Bank). It has formerly been known as the Pont Louis XVI, Pont de la Révolution, Pont de la Concorde, Pont Louis XVI again during the Bourbon Restoration (1814), and again in 1830, Pont de la Concorde, the name it has retained to this day. It is served by the Metro stations Assemblée nationale and Concorde.

History

Location on the Seine

The architect Jean-Rodolphe Perronet was commissioned in 1787 with this new bridge. It had been planned since 1755, when construction of place Louis XV (now place de la Concorde) began, to replace the ferry that crossed the river at that point. Construction continued in the midst of the turmoil of the French Revolution, using the dimension stones taken from the demolished Bastille (taken by force on 14 July 1789) for its masonry. It was completed in 1791.^[1]^[3]

In 1810, Napoléon I placed along the sides of the bridge the statues of eight French generals killed in battle during the campaigns of the First French Empire. On the Bourbon Restoration these were replaced with twelve monumental marble statues, including four of the "grands ministres" (Suger, Sully, Richelieu, Colbert), four royal generals (Du Guesclin, Bayard, Condé, Turenne) and four sailors (Duguay-Trouin, Duquesne, Suffren, Tourville). However, this collection of statues proved too heavy for the bridge, and Louis-Philippe I had them removed and transferred to Versailles.^[3]

Traffic across the bridge became very congested and the bridge had to be widened on both sides between 1930 and 1932,^[3] doubling the width of the original bridge. The engineers Deval and Malet nevertheless took care to preserve the neoclassical architecture of the original. It was renovated one last time in 1983. Today, this bridge bears the brunt of Paris's road traffic (except for those of the Boulevard Périphérique).

References

1 2 "Pont de la Concorde (1791)". Structurae—International Database for Civil and Structural Engineering. Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn Verlag. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
↑ "Pont de la Concorde (1932)". Structurae—International Database for Civil and Structural Engineering. Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn Verlag. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
1 2 3 "Bridges — Pont de la Concorde". Mayor of Paris — Directorate of Information and Communication. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pont de la Concorde.

Mayor of Paris' page about bridge, in English
(French) Structurae : first bridge
(French) Structurae : widening in 1932
Satellite image on Google Maps

7th arrondissement of Paris

Neighbourhoods	Faubourg Saint-Germain Quartier du Gros-Caillou

Primary and secondary schools	Lycée et collège Victor Duruy Établissement La Rochefoucauld Institut de l'Alma Lycée-collège Paul-Claudel Lycée d'Hulst Lycée Sainte-Jeanne Elisabeth Lycée Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin Lycée Thérèse-Chappuis Istituto Statale Italiano Leonardo Da Vinci

Colleges and universities	American University of Paris Sciences Po

Landmarks	American Church in Paris Eiffel Tower Hôtel de Boisgelin Hôtel Matignon Les Invalides Musée de l'Armée Musée des Plans-Reliefs Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine Musée Maillol Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération Musée du quai Branly Musée Rodin Musée Valentin Haüy Pont de l'Alma Pont des Invalides Taipei Representative Office in France

Paris Métro stations	Assemblée Nationale Champ de Mars Duroc École Militaire Invalides La Tour-Maubourg Rue du Bac Saint-François-Xavier Ségur Sèvres – Babylone Solférino Vaneau Varenne

Paris RER stations	Invalides

8th arrondissement of Paris

Neighbourhoods	Quartier des Champs-Élysées Quartier du Faubourg-du-Roule Quartier de la Madeleine Quartier de l'Europe

Primary and secondary schools	Lycée Chaptal Lycée Racine Cours Hattemer Lycée Fénelon Sainte-Marie

Colleges and universities	Intégrale : Institut d'enseignement supérieur privé

Landmarks	Arc de Triomphe Champs-Élysées Grand Palais Élysée Palace Four Seasons Hotel George V Hôtel de Crillon Hôtel de Marigny Hôtel de la Marine La Madeleine Musée Bouilhet-Christofle (closed) Musée Cernuschi Musée Jacquemart-André Musée Nissim de Camondo Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Paris Palais de la Découverte Parc Monceau Petit Palais Pinacothèque de Paris (closed) Place Charles de Gaulle Place de la Concorde Luxor Obelisk Pont Alexandre III Pont de l'Alma Pont de la Concorde Pont des Invalides Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Saint-Augustin, Paris The Scots Kirk, Paris Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Théâtre du Rond-Point

Paris Métro stations	Alma – Marceau Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau Charles de Gaulle – Étoile Concorde Courcelles Europe George V Liège Madeleine Miromesnil Monceau Place de Clichy Rome Saint-Augustin Saint-Lazare Saint-Philippe du Roule Ternes Villiers

SNCF stations	Gare Saint-Lazare

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