39/52 Viaduc d'Austerlitz - a photo on Flickriver

52 Weeks Project

A Sunday morning in Paris with only something more than 1 hour for my morning walk...
Location: Quai d'Austerlitz, Paris 13ème (F)
Coordinates: 48°50'33.5"N 2°22'03.0"E (Google Maps)
Pourquoi? : I went with métro line 5 for my morning walk (Ømmetje 4056) to Gare d'Austerlitz for this selfie in full sunlight with a nice background which happened to be this métro viaduc; Viaduc d'Austerlitz. I took the métro back to Gare du Nord at Bastille. This all during my 1020th 'découcher' in Paris.
Viaduc d'Austerlitz: Viaduc d'Austerlitz is a single-deck, steel arch, rail bridge that crosses the Seine in Paris. Its usage is solely dedicated to the railroad traffic on Line 5 of the Parisian Metro Network. It links Gare d'Austerlitz on the left bank to Quai de la Rapée on the other side of the river.
Due to restrictions posed by navigational traffic, it was implausible to place a pier in the middle of the river. Therefore, in 1903, engineer Louis Biette, with the help of Fulgence Bienvenüe, conceptualized a metallic bridge that crossed the river in a single span.
Tasked with the bridge construction, the Building Society of Levallois-Perret (La Societé de Construction de Levallois-Perret) proposed a bridge with a span reaching 140 m, which was a record out of all the Parisian bridges at the time. Nowadays, this is only surpassed by Pont Charles-de-Gaulle.
The viaduct consists of two reversed steel parabolic arcs joined together at three locations—two near the river banks and one exactly on the top of the arcs—and a single suspended deck about 8.5 m in width and hovering 11 m above water. As the deck is too close to the water, the arcs ought to be elevated above the deck and affixed at each end to a giant stone abutment, 22 m x 18 m in dimension.
The approach to the bridge from the left bank (Gare d'Austerlitz) posed no particular issue to the construction project but it wasn't practical to remove the existing structures on the right bank to clear way for the bridge exit. Therefore to circumvent this problem, instead of a straight exit leading out from the main bridge (like the one on the left bank), a curved structure was erected with riveted girders parallel to the rails. The helicoid ramp, which has a radius of approximately 75 m and a 40% gradient, bends in until the rails point downstream. The rails then disappear beneath la Place Mazas and re-emerge at the other end.
The construction of the viaduct began in 1903 and was completed by the following year. In 1936, the bridge body was consolidated to allow it to carry more load.
Jean-Camille Formigé, an architect who had previously designed many metropolitan superstructures including the square of Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, decorated the steel arcs with marine-themed reliefs, including dolphins, seashells and seaweeds. Parts of the steel footings are etched with figures of the Parisian Coat of Arms, which symbolizes steadfastness.
[ Wikipedia - Viaduc d'Austerlitz ]
Weather: Sunny 9° C
To Listen ♫: Emadees - Early Hours (Youtube)
Selfie Attempts: 7
Self-portrait technics: Joby portable gorillapod attached to the banister of a staircase, timer on 10 seconds.

Taken in: France / Île-de-France / Paris / Paris 12 Ancien - Quartier Saint-Marcel (show map)

Taken on: September 28, 2025

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Europe

France

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Paris

Quai d'Austerlitz

Gare d'Austerlitz

Salpêtrière

Viaduc d'Austerlitz

Overpass

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RATP

Alstom

Île-de-France Mobilités

Seine

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Matin

Bridge

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Ommetje

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Trainers

Baskets

Nike

Nike Tn

Mr. Marvis

Red

Rouge

MF01

52-Weeks

52-Semaines

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Perry Tak

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Early Hours

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September

2025

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Sets appears in: • 52-Weeks [2025]

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Camera: Sony ILCE-6400, f/13.0, 1/800 sec, 18mm (=27mm), ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony ILCE-6400
Lens:	E 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS
Aperture:	f/13.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/800)
Focal Length:	18mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm)
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Cloudy
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 26.11 (Windows)
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