Millau Viaduct: The World's Tallest Bridge 

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Damn, a megaproject that finished ahead of schedule, in budget and wasn't riddled with problems during and after construction? I didn't think it was possible

I used to pop up to Millau whilst they were building this bridge. It was a truly epic sight whilst building it. I caught it once with the longest part of the deck jutting out into thin air over the river, with (unbelievably) a lorry parked on the end of it. A very impressive construction and design feat. And some very highly skilled welders putting the deck together and getting every joint right! The bridge was financed by that much-maligned (at least here in the UK) instrument of public infrastructure, a PFI. There were some very imaginative aspects to the PFI they put in place. 1) There was an official opening date, 2) Any toll collected before the official opening date counted as pure-profit for the company, 3), The company could collect toll after it opened until a] they'd made a pre-agreed amount of profit, or b] 100 years (whichever came first) after which the bridge reverts to public ownership, 4) toll price pre-agreed and cannot be increased by the company. Opening a few months early was a testament to the planning skills of the company, and skills of the government for not being manipulated whilst allowing for a decent incentive. The wind can be truly epic in that part of the world. There's a little airfield just south, and there used to be (maybe still are) chaps who'll take you up in a microlight for a flight over the bridge. You'll find that their English language skills dry up completely if you ask them to fly underneath it! There's been some fairly significant unintended consequences. The local town, Millau (Mee-oh) used to be an unpleasant place, hosting France's biggest summer traffic jam, endless lorries all year round, etc. Now with the bridge open the town has been smartened up, there's some very nice places to eat and stay, and it's become a destination to go in that area, with handy access to the autoroute. The second unintended consequence is the visitor centre for the bridge. Originally this was a Portakabin-type thing, and they were expecting maybe 10,000 people ever might come and see it. They soon had to replace it with a permanent centre / exhibition, and build a special access road so that you can easily go down to the base of the tallest tower and take a photo looking upwards. Ironically, this access road involved building another bridge over the river... All in all, it's done a huge amount for the local area, beyond just giving motorists a quicker journey to the south. There's now a good reason to stop in the town, rather than a bad reason to get stuck there. Nuggets: one of the first members of the public to cross it after it opened was also the first person to kill themselves jumping from it (a tragic case as I recall). You can nearly fit the Eifel Tower underneath the bridge. It's not level or straight (by design). If you stop your car to take a photo, a policeman will be there pretty quickly dishing out a fine. The service / rest area at the northern end has a pretty good place for taking photos of the bridge. There's occasions when they close the bridge and open it up to pedestrians / runners / etc. Sadly the view whilst driving across in a car isn't so great; the (transparent) wind deflectors distort the view. You're better off in a lorry or a coach (or above mentioned microlight). There used to be an ad for McDonalds in a field at the southern end informing you that the nearest one was a very long way away indeed (it's not popular in that part of France).

Try to imagine the amazing (almost unbelievable) surprise..no, shock...as we came out of a curve to see this magnificent structure appear! Had NO idea it was there. Were driving from Spain to spent a few days at a gite about 45 miles nw of Millau. Next day we were right back there, spending the whole day doing the 'construction' tour and visitor's center below the viaduct. It was all a very enjoyable, educational experience. Drove south on the old road to get a feel of what it was like, but primarily to make the trip once again across the bridge. Well worth the toll!!! Possibly the most understated fact of the viaduct is its' aesthetic appeal; really beautiful from all through the valley. Originally from West Virginia we've traversed the Gauley River Gorge bridge many times; a spectacular project in it's own right! Was built for the same reason as Millau...unclogged mountain roads with a trip reduction time of two hours! Absolutely enjoy every video (a BUNCH) of yours watched. Great content, presentation...and I LOVE your humor! (er...humoUr) Keep up the wonderful work, please!

I've been driving down to Perpignan for over 25 years and remember it taking 3 hours to get through Millau. I saw some of the construction of the viaduct in the early 2000's and couldn't wait to use it. Now been across countless times and often stop to just look at it and ask my self "how the hell did they do that?". The visitor's centre is well worth stopping for and the short walk to the viewing point, particularly as the journey is now 2 hours and 55 minutes quicker from Calais!! The A75 south of Clermont-Ferrand has to be in the top drives in the world, truly stunning and for both the natural environment of the Grand Causes as well as the human engineering effort, which I doubt everyone will agree with.

Build ahead of schedule & payed for itself after 3 years?! the world needs more infrastructure projects like this!

My grandma lives right there and sometimes we go climbing or paragliding on the Larzac plateau and let me tell you, even from afar this things fills up the whole valley, it's huuuge (and quite impressive to drive on also) !

75 miles north of Millau up the A75 is Garabit Viaduct, a railway arch also built by Eiffel, and the highest arch bridge in the world when it was built. There's an 'aire' (pull-off viewing area) on the A75 that gives a good view of the viaduct. Or for a better view, come off at Exit 31 for Loubaresse (also signposted 'Garabit - Viaduc Eiffel') and take the D909 that crosses under the viaduct to cross the Truyere on a low level bridge that gives a great view up the valley to the bridge. It makes a nice contrast with the modernity of the Millau viaduct.

My late wife and I spent nearly twenty years travelling that route. Millau, while a stunningly beautiful town, was a nightmare to transverse. We spent years watching the towers stretch across the valley, and, at last knew that next year e would cross via the viaduct. Well the day came, we paid our toll (quite gladly I might add,) and drove onto the bridge. The fog / mist / cloud was so thick we could hardly see thee next tower let alone the "magnificent" views either side. I think it was about two years later that we finally got to see this magficent structure in all its glory, and the views were breathtaking.

Having driven over both the Pont-du-Normandie and the Millau Viaduct, I can confirm they are both staggering constructions, though of course the Millau is a huge level up from the Pont. The views are incredible and it's hard to comprehend the sheer scale of it without seeing it in real life. It really is a spectacular feat of engineering.

Just want to say, as someone very stuck in a boring place all my life, that its your content that has made me feel more connected with the rest of the world than anything else Ive come across. From the streets of Petra to Uluru to technological marvels like this bridge, these let me traverse the planet and its history. Huge thanks to you and your team for doing the work to present these to us.

Once again French engineering proved to be one of the best!

Been over that viaduct several times. Nothing short of a spectacular structure in an outstandingly beautiful part of the world

I am in constant awe of engineers and what they can design and execute; and of the skilled craftsmen that help them. Thank goodness fir such imaginative, daring souls. We revere athletes, actors and singers and take what these clever people do for granted when they are the ones who should be revered.

Seriously though, building them soooo accurately using GPS is beyond impressive. Just, wow. I love this bridge.

Well worth a visit and there’s a visitor centre in the valley underneath the bridge. One of the most beautiful bridges in the world.

I have been over this bridge twice in both directions and it is spectacular, just as well it is in a straight line because you spend most of the time looking sideways at the amazing views ;)

I had the privilege of climbing on top of the highest pillar thanks to a friend who worked at Eiffage, it's was memorable. It's been a part of the landscape for many years but I'm still impressed everytime I see it.

Well Simon it seems kudos are deserved by all involved. This is one of your best, and most detailed offerings to date. I was fascinated from start to finish. Congratulations. Viva la France!

In Latvia there is a simple bridge across a river that costed several times more than this one and is crooked. All because of corruption.

Drove over the Pont while on holiday in 2012. For somebody more used to the West Gate and Sydney Harbour bridges, it is quite a roller-coaster in comparison. Amazing. Never been to Millau, but the first time I saw a photo of it, I thought it was a Photoshop. One of the most incredible things ever built.

Probably the coolest bridge in the world!

Damn. That's how you do a mega project. Well done France.

That bridge is truly a work of art...magnificent to look at

I've seen a few documentaries about this bridge. This was short and concise. Top Gear UK took three supercars here in a episode. Thank you.

I love how the auto-subs sometimes spell Millau "meow" or "meal"... I'm French and the Millau traffic jams were infamous when I was a kid. My parents and I wasted hours being stuck there each Summer. I took the viaduct once, it's a quite eerie experience. It feels like you took off the ground to fly through the air, and you can actually feel the bridge sway with the wind. I prefer to take the original road TBH now that the jams are not so much of a problem anymore, as a) you don't see much landscape while crossing the bridge anyway and the road & town are much more charmingly picturesque and b) there's a horrendously expensive toll just to cross the bridge (around €10 for small vehicles).

Wow, how nice to see a highly speculative gigantic construction project turn out to be a raving success rather than a horrible disaster! Thank you, Simon!

It's always such a strange concept to me that a toll road would, at some point, pay for itself and cease to be a tolled road, since growing up in Houston, TX, USA we've had a toll road that has still yet to pay for itself, despite being completed almost a decade ago and having functionally paid for itself at this point.

The Top Gear episode where they take a trip to this bridge is one of my favorites

I travelled to France to see and drive over this marvel shortly after it opened, absolutely beautiful.

Been there and made a stop to marvel at this truly fantastic construction, truly amazing.

Beautiful, breathtaking bridge. I hope I will see it in person some day.

I’ve driven over the Millau a few times. The approach from the north is best ‘cos you can stop @ the visitor centre and look @ the bridge from the viewing point. If approaching from the south, there’s no warning and all of a sudden the world disappears!! Pont de Normandie is also pretty impressive. Lovely views of Honfleur on the west bank, and the refinery and chemical plants on the east.

The bridge was one of inspiration behind the St Croix Crossing bridge on Minnesota/Wisconsin which opened in 2017 and did replace the aging 1931 Stillwater Lift Bridge which is now used for non vehicle traffic primary bikes and pedestrians.

I actually drove past this place when only one of the support towers was built, as I live in France. I thought it was really odd and took a photo of this single huge pylon, unfortunately I lost the picture. When I eventually found out what it was it all clicked into place. An incredible achievement and ahead of schedule, which says a lot about how the French companies can work.

It really does go to show that just because it hasn’t been done yet, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible to do.

With my fear of heights, I think I'd rather just take the longer route through the village instead..... :S

Hey Simon, how about a Megaprojects video on the Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles? Most expensive stadium ever built. 100K capacity. Fully covered with a roof. Has a jumbotron hanging from the roof that's bigger than the field. The forces involved must be insane. Also it's a delicious example of American garish excess.

Hey, Simon, I remember seeing a documentary on the TV back in the '80s where the busiest motorway exit had to be replaced. They built a new one next to the old one, diverted traffic, demolished the old one and then slid half a mile of roadway into its new position overnight ready for rush hour traffic the next day. Low tech, there were tv cameras filming "rulers" to make sure it was linear, giant brakes (which didn't quite work but did their best) and water lubrication. Might make a good video.

Jacque: Dang, Andre, we missed it by 2mm! Andre: Rounding error...

Delivered on time, for less than half a billion euros and no reported deaths. Impressive.

Every part of this project sounds insane. Yet every part of it went smoother than approximately any construction in the last decade. A construction finishing ahead of time? Unheard of. The only question I had left was why. Let's not even start discussing the Finnish nuclear plant Olkiluoto 3 (that was also coincidentally designed by a French company).

The “wedge-creep” system was inspired by the way a sewing machine feeds cloth under the needle… brilliant! 🇬🇧🇷🇴👍🏻

I'm pretty well versed on the construction of the Millau Viaduct (I did a University research project on it). But the 1 fact right at the end surprised me. It would pay for itself in roughly 3 years! That's incredible! The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan cost approximately 500 Billion Yen (3.6 Billion US Dollars). It also has a toll but the initial cost of the bridge was so high and couple that with interest paid on the 500 Billion Yen it would never raise enough revenue in toll charges alone to repay the cost of the Bridge. But the fact the Millau Viaduct could pay for itself in 3 years is astonishing!

I enjoyed this video a lot, thank you.

This is a beautiful bridge and to add more charm, there is a viewing point on a small hill on the north side where if you are correctly positioned you can photograph an optical illusion created by the piers.

I heard that at one time about half of traffic on the bridge was people who just wanted to drive across, turn round and go home. So much for tourists not wanting to use it. It is still on my list of places to go. Next opportunity I have I will take whatever detour is needed to drive across it.

Ancient Egypt didn't use slaves, their so called slaves had a higher standard of living than other commoner's at the time.

I am in awe of bridges. I'm from the Pacific Northwest, and have been through tons of covered bridges. I've been over the new Tacoma narrows, the old one called Galloping Gurdy. My honeymoon, I crossed the golden gate, used to have to commute the San Mateo, and lived a rocks throw from Dumbarton. I've been to uncountable bridges in the UK, and though I forget it's name, I've been photographed next to the train bridge shown in Harry Potter. (Also been to alnwick, i.e. Hogwarts, three times :D) Wonderful video, and this is on my bucket list.

Been over it several times, it's gorgeous and brilliant and spectacular. Any time we go over it in the daytime, we still stop for a few minutes of marvellous engineering sightseeing.

Do a video on the flying flap Jack one of the worlds slowest planes

It's weird seeing footage from 2001 nowadays. It's like when a was kid, seeing footage from the '70's back in the '90's. It looks just as grainy too.

We saw this as it was being built, drove from Andora in a snowstorm into France in our circus tourbus in 2004

That was absolutely fascinating. I've seen pictures of that bridge, and it's always been anxiety inducing for me. I would never be comfortable driving on a bridge so high off the ground, especially one so long. That story is amazing tho. Thank you for bringing it to us!

Project pushed by a bright idea, plus new and untried methods, plus time constraints, plus weather and geographical issues equal trouble.

Suggestion: Comparing the pyramids of Mexico to the Egyptian pyramids, and lesser known pyramids located in places other than Mexico and Egypt. Also, the California Missions.

Excellent video . Where do you get all your energy to do so many channels??

This prove that the French Engineers are better than handling megaproject than the American and British.

This bridge is crazy! I have an extreme fear of heights; I guess dizzy if I stand on a table (I'm not kidding). Just seeing a picture of this bridge just about made my head explode.

There was a brilliant documentary about this on Discovery Channel several years ago.

I can’t believe I’d not heard of that bridge bridge before. A true MegaProjects

A video on White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, USA would be awesome. Lots of space and military history there including the test site for the first nuke, the trinity site.

This was mad such good content, which is par for the course at this stage. Really well done Simon

I’ve driven a motorbike through the valley and seeing the bridge from below is simply impressive. A true monument to what man can create.

Another bridge worth talking about is the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia.

"and face a fine of 30'000 dollars...." well, that's not so bad "...a day" oh

I live just 45 km south of the viaduct and was here as it was contructed. It really is magnificent... and the old road was a nightmare!

You should do a video on the Red Hill fuel storage facility in Hawaii near Peral Harbor. It has a relationship to the attack on Pearl Harbor and a Red Hill water well has been in the news the last couple of days because of a report fuel contamination of the water.

Yes, been waiting for this video for ages...

I drove across that bridge a few years ago on a family vacation, it is pretty amazing. we had a rental French minivan and it was insanely windy and I thought we would be blown off. I also recall it costs like 20 euros to cross.

Amazing structure. Parked up and went to viewing point before crossing it,few years ago now

Fun fact : Jean-Pierre Martin, the site director for this viaduct said in a documentary that he would not be able to build the Great Pyramids of Giza today..

No mention of Ove Arup? Curious .......

An absolutely stunning achievement.

The Oakland side of the Bay Bridge is partially modelled after the Millau Viaduct but at a coat of round 100 times more including the time it took to build of 11 years for the Oakland side of the bridge vs the Millau's 3 years. Millau Viaduct cost $424 million and triple the length to the Oakland bay Bridge $7.18 billion. Also the bolts that hold the Bay Bridge together were Chinese made and broke in the first few months of opening and the metal cables are also of inferior quality.

It's a wonderful bridge, I've used it many times and it never ceases to amaze me when it comes into view just how fragile it looks.

I crossed it a couple of years after it opened and its very impressive, it was strange looking down on clouds as we drove over it, very well presented and informative video👍

The last thing you want is for a bridge to be labeled as "moments from disaster"

I drove a coach over the Millau Viaduct in 2014. It’s certainly an impressive feat of engineering.

The French did a great job with this project.

Nice job. Thank you

I'll make a correction of what you mention at 13.00 about Egyptian techniques. It wasn't "slaves" who did the job because they weren't slaves in ancient Egypt. All the workers were egyptians working for their human god whom is known today as the pharaon. Same for the pyramid. They were all happy, or at least agreeing on working on these projects

I live not far from this bridge and just drove across it a few days ago!

This is incredible. Ahead of schedule🤔. In Kenya, this kind of engineering we will always be dreaming off🙏.

That's impressive! Here in the United States when we build something and the government imposes a temporary toll to pay it off, decades later they're still charging tolls, pretty much nothing but the interest has been paid, and no one knows where all the toll money went. Here in my state they used taxpayer dollars to build a toll road and then sold the rights to collect the tolls to a conglomerate in another country.

An Amazing piece of engineering and hard work !

Thanks for this video

Cool video. Thanks!

Incredible engineering and precision…👍👍

Simon, one of your best. . . but I’ll have to watch again to fully understand it. . .

I'm from Millau ,and i Can Say with all my years where i lived here that it's a really Big bridge.

I go here every time I must go to my parents house lol Beautifull bridge my favourite in the world ! Proud to be french !

Your video is great but I'm scared of heights and the footage gives me the heebies geebies. Weirdly, I've driven across the Millau Viaduct with no worries. It's a beautiful bridge in a stunning part of France with the added bonus that a Brit designed it.

Mr. You Tube takes on the B1M once again.

Great video, and what a kickass bridge that is!!

Watching this on the anniversary of the collapse of the Silver Bridge between Pt. Pleasant, WV and Gallipolis, OH.😳 December 06, 1967.

Just fantastic

The most amazing thing about this video was...French engineering actually worked and was on time! And I thought they excelled only with helicopters.

Great video. Could've used a bit more visual demonstration tho. Technical details were hard to follow sometimes

I drove on that bridge before it was connected with the other side. I saw the gap in time so I accellerated and my Porsche flew 100 feet in the air and landed on the other side. Phew!