The Pont de Bonneuil-Matours

The Pont de Bonneuil-Matours has done sterling service for over a century but has been closed for the past 4 years.

The original bridge was built in 1846 as a toll bridge. It was initially a wooden structure with a single cart lane and limited to a weight capacity of 5,500 kg. The need for an upgrade arose in the early 20th century due to wear and tear and increased motorized traffic.

The bridge in 2008

In 1931-1932 Etablissements Arnodin Leinekugel Le Coq renovated the bridge, preserving the original foundations but replacing the deck and upper structure to meet modern needs. It's the oldest operational suspension bridge in France with contiguous cable bundles (don't ask me, I'm stumped), a design now seen in larger suspended bridges like Tancarville and Aquitaine. It's the second bridge in France to adopt this technique, following the example of the now replaced Vicq sur Gartempe bridge of 1931.

In 2019 the bridge was closed for a two year refurbishing as part of the "Grand Travaux du Schéma Routier". The real world intervened in events, but it was reopened on the 7th December 2023.

Soon after the reopening we saw the bridge for the first time since the work was done. It wasn't finished (they were doing something with hydraulics) but at least our shortest and quickest route to Poitiers has reopened.

The Bridge in December 2023

We don't often go to Poitiers these days. When we first bought this house we thought we'd be whizzing down to Poitiers at a drop of a hat. But it appears that psychogeography affects even people who are new to a place and don't have inbred opinions. We're in the Touraine, so we go to Tours. The route to to Poitiers is the same distance and leads to the same shops and services but we don't go there. The diversion caused by the bridge being out of commission has hardly affected us.