Paris Bridges #1of3

(From East to West)

The city boundaries of Paris (30 square miles) are defined by the last of the six or seven fortifications ('Thiers' fortifications, named for Prime Minister Adolphe Thiers, built in 1845), that surrounded the city in a rather oval shape. A 22-mile ring-road, called the Périphérique, was built in 1973 in the space formerly occupied by those fortifications. The Seine River flows in a gentle arc, entering the city at the southeast, leaving the city at the southwest. About one-third of the city is south of this arc, about two-thirds are north. More than 30 bridges cross the Seine — from Pont Amont, the Périphérique bridge on the east, to Pont Aval, where the Périphérique again crosses the Seine on the west.

As the first in the long list of Parisian bridges, from upstream to downstream, Pont Amont carries the great loop of the Boulevard Périphérique across the Seine in the East of the Capital.

The Pont National, originally named Pont Napoleon III, comprises five stone arches.

The Pont de Tolbiac was completed in 1882. Designed by Bernard and Perouse, it was preferred to a far more innovative project designed by Gustave Eiffel, the engineer who designed the Tower.

Pont de Bercy was opened in 1832, but due to increased traffic in 1991 the bridge was doubled in size, with the new piers exactly aligned with the old ones.

In 1986, the Conseil de Paris decided to build Pont Charles de Gaulle, in parallel with the Pont d'Austerlitz, the busiest in the capitals. It was completed in 1996.

Pont d'Austerlitz was originally built in 1801, rebuilt and widened in 1854, then widened again in 1885.

Pont Sully, constructed in 1876, is made of two standalone metal bridges that stand on the tip of the Ile Saint Louis, connecting it to both the Rive Droite, the Right Bank, and the Rive Gauche, the Left Bank of the Seine.

Pont de la Tournelle, which extends from Ile Saint Louis to the left bank of the Seine, was built in 1656 on the site of a bridge — called "Fust de l'île Notre Dame" — that was built in 1370. The current structure was built in 1928.

The Pont Marie connects Ile Saint Louis to the Seine’s right bank, and is the counterpart to the Pont de la Tournelle, that connects to the left bank.

Pont de l'Archevêché built in 1828, was named for the Archbishop's palace, which at one time was situated near Notre Dame Cathedral. It connects Ile de la Cité to the Rive Gauche, the Left Bank of the Seine.