anyone been here? viaduc de millau

[24ftlb]

Anyone been over this? How far from blighty?

http://www.leviaducdemillau.com/?lang=EN

Any trips planned????

Paul

[xrv_jim]

Anyone been over this? How far from blighty?

http://www.leviaducdemillau.com/?lang=EN

Any trips planned????

Paul

Hopefully going over it in the summer. It's about 600 miles from Calais on the main route to Spain.

[Whealie]

going over in the car at Easter and on the bike in July.

[Man up North]

F**k me . I bet it kicks up some nasty side winds while on a bike.

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Did it in Nov (see pic in Valencia trip in ride out's).

There's a viewing/information area halfway up the valley side below the bridge, difficult to get a perspective.
Till you see a bus on it and f**k me it's like a dot in the sky :shock:

Approach early on a morn is something else, hanging in the cloud and very eerie looking.

Actually travelling over was a slight dissapointment as the outer lane was closed off (when I went over) and there's high aerofoil type things along the edge, ruining any view :cry:

I guess they deflect side wind's, as shame but well worth a visit.
Oh and there's a crackin road from St Affrica to errm, can't remember where. But it's good :)

I'll shut up now :?

Phil

[Yeti]

Going over in the summer on the way to Spain! :D Anyone watch the program that showed how they built it!! incredible gamble! :shock:

I'm a towercrane operator but would still not have fancied building those piers in high winds!! :pukeright: Great view though I guess! :)

[Slimie]

Going over in the summer on the way to Spain! :D Anyone watch the program that showed how they built it!! incredible gamble! :shock:

I'm a towercrane operator but would still not have fancied building those piers in high winds!! :pukeright: Great view though I guess! :)

I know just what you mean, I did some work (photography) from a 49 metre tower crane, it was amazing that I even went up it having been petrified, lierally, of heights since I was a lad. I was staggered to hear that the tallest crane on the bridge construction was 249 metres tall.

How far would that continue to slew after you'd asked it to stop?

Cheers
-Simon

[Yeti]

In the windspeeds they were talking about!?!

Downwind - uncontrolably!!
Upwind - lucky if you would get it moving without burning out the slew motors!!

Would be one hell of a jib ride though doing 360 at full chat on the end of a jib at that height !!

or even a manriding cage ride with about 15m of wire out!! :puke:

I'm sure it would be worth loosing you job for if you were a base jumper though!! would be great exit on your last day of work!! :D

[djadams]

There's a viewing/information area halfway up the valley side below the bridge, difficult to get a perspective.

I just stopped in a layby to take this:

http://dan.j.adams.googlepages.com/MillauViaduct2.jpg/MillauViaduct2-large.jpg

Sadly didn't take enough pics to make it smooth, but it's a cool bridge. Full size pic here (http://dan.j.adams.googlepages.com/MillauViaduct2.jpg). Unfortunately at that size you can see how bad the stitching is on my pic... :(

Frankly I figured riding the GENIUS road that goes underneath it would be more entertaining than riding the motorway that goes over it, so opted for that option. Recommended visit for sure.

[willb]

I'm planning a trip over there next summer, possibly a few other interesting places too.

[xrv_jim]

Unfortunately at that size you can see how bad the stitching is on my pic... :(

The stich isn't bad compared to mine (different view though, in fact I'll go and bugg*r about with it and post it) - what programme are you using dj, Canon PhotoStitch?

Here is is...

http://www.xrv.org.uk/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4421


...and a couple more

http://www.xrv.org.uk/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4435

http://www.xrv.org.uk/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4433

[Robster]

You're right djadams, the road below the bridge is fantastic! Riding over the bridge, as has been said, was almost disappointing...there's no real view to speak of at all.

Been up and down that road below where the bridge now is dozens of times in a 2CV when I used to work in France, long before any work had even been thought of being started on the bridge. Gorgeous part of the world :D

[faantjie]

Going over in the summer on the way to Spain! :D Anyone watch the program that showed how they built it!! incredible gamble! :shock:

I'm a towercrane operator but would still not have fancied building those piers in high winds!! :pukeright: Great view though I guess! :)

What a fantastic job. How do you become a towercrane op. This ine of those jobs you see peple do but never meet them or know how they became that. Please tell me more. 8) :D

[Yeti]

pm'd you

Working down in Corby/Northampton for 18 weeks so if you fancy a neb then get in touch. If I ask the site manager nicely he might even lend you a vis vest and let you on site on a saturday morning so you get a good idea ?!? maybe but no promises.

[djadams]

what programme are you using dj, Canon PhotoStitch?

Yes indeedy - I've had some pretty good results from it since, like this panorama across Kowloon Bay to Hong Kong Island:

http://lh5.google.com/dan.j.adams/RQ01RXumABI/AAAAAAAAAe0/milq32Xt0Wo/Panorama.jpg?imgmax=912

(Where I can happily accept that the waves on the water won't line up!!) But find, I guess pretty reasonably, that with a geometrical subject you need much bigger overlaps to get a satisfactory result. I'l know for next time...

Meanwhile I still find you can get a more dramatic result with a conventional shot just because the clarity is so much better, even my night shots came out better than the stitch...

http://lh4.google.com/dan.j.adams/RQ01LBl6ABI/AAAAAAAAAec/1KxTq1ANb2k/2006_08%2609%20Hong%20Kong%20074.jpg?imgmax=800