Millau, France
France has begun construction on what promises to be the world’s tallest bridge. The bridge, which will span the Tarn River in the south, is intended to give vacationers heading for the French Riviera a way to bypass the tiny town of Millau. The village has just one main road, and in the summer tourist rush it can take motorists more than four hours to crawl through it. Some locals complained the enormous bridge would be an eyesore, but Millau Mayor Jacques Godfrain said he hoped it would be a tourist attraction. “When they built the Eiffel Tower, there were some people against it,” Godfrain said. “But today if you tried to tear down the Eiffel Tower, nobody would support you.” The bridge’s tallest pillar will be more than 1,100 feet high, and the roadway will be 800 feet off the ground. Currently, the world’s tallest bridge is the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan, with 928-foot towers.
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