Building bridges

"The viaduct over the Tarn valley at Millau, Southern France is the highest road bridge in Europe and one of the longest. It extended the A75 Autoroute to the Mediterranean and in doing so bypassed the small town of Millau which had suffered heavy traffic for generations. It might be thought that Millau would revert to sleepy obscurity and commercial recession - but that is not the case. Today the town is buzzing with tourist buses and cars attracted by the viaduct and staying on to explore the Tarn gorges and plateaus, the 'Causses'. The hotels are close to maximum occupancy and room rates are high. Millau has become a habitable and desirable market town. There is a crying opportunity for new tourist infrastructure and this sort of venture is highly likely to be backed by regional and departmental government"

Andrew Thornton