Paris Bridges #3of3

(From East to West)

Pont Royal remains one of the three oldest bridges in Paris. The original wooden bridge burned down and was washed away, then replaced by a stone structure in 1689.

Passerine Solférino was opened in 1861. Weakened by a century of faithful service, it was demolished in 1960. In 1961, a "temporary" steel footbridge was installed, then demolished in 1992, then reconstructed in 1999.

Pont de la Concorde, constructed in 1791, extends from in front of Palais Bourbon to the traffic in Place de la Concorde.

Pont Alexandre III is Paris's most elegant bridge, ornamented with fine sculpture work. The structure was opened for the 1900 Universal Exhibition (World’s Fair).

The original Pont des Invalides collapsed in 1824, before it was even completed. It was then destroyed by ice in 1880, restored later that year, then widened in 1956.

Pont de l'Alma was originally built in 1856, but due to settling and the need for a wider bridge, it was replaced in 1974.

Passerelle Debilly, a foot bridge built to carry visitors to the 1900 Exposition, was completed on 13th April 1900.

Pont d'Iéna, although started in 1808, was not completed until 1814, then was widened in 1937.

Pont de Bir-Hakeim, opened in 1905, includes a railway viaduct on the top level. Highly ornate decoration disappeared when the structure was strengthened from 1930 to 1940.

Pont de Grenelle was built in 1827. Despite repairs and rebuilding it collapsed in 1873, was replaced in 1875, then a new bridge was opened in 1968. A bronze scale model of Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty stands on the Allée des Cygnes which separates the bridge into two symmetrical halves. (The inside framework of our Statue of Liberty was designed by the engineer, Gustave Eiffel.)

Pont Mirabeau, opened in 1893, is memorialized in a poem called "Pont Mirabeau,” written by Guillaume Apollinaire.

Pont de Carigliano was built when the City of Paris, in 1863, decided on the construction of a two-tier structure to carry both road and rail. It suffered war damage in 1870, then in 1943 it was the only Parisian bridge to be damaged by bombing in WWII. Demolished in 1962, reopened in 1966.

As the last in the long list of Parisian bridges, from upstream to downstream, Pont Aval is the bridge that carries the Boulevard Périphérique across the Seine in the West side of Paris.