The Pont de Sully is a bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

 across the River Seine in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France.

In reality two separate bridges meeting on the eastern tip of the Île Saint-Louis

Île Saint-Louis

The Île Saint-Louis is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France . The island is named after King Louis IX of France ....

, it links the 4th and 5th arrondissements of the capital along the line of the Boulevard Henri IV, and connects to the eastern end of the Boulevard Saint-Germain

Boulevard Saint-Germain

The Boulevard Saint-Germain is a major street in Paris on the Left Bank of the Seine river. It curves in a 3.5 kilometer arc from the Pont de Sully in the east to the Pont de la Concorde in the west and traverses the 5th, 6th and 7th arrondissements...

. Sully - Morland

Sully - Morland (Paris Metro)

Sully - Morland is a station of the Paris Métro, France, named after the Pont de Sully and the Boulevard Morland. The Pont de Sully commemorates Maximilien de Béthune, Baron of Rosny, Duke of Sully , friend and Minister to King Henri IV. It crosses the Seine to the Île Saint-Louis and the...

 is the nearest Metro

Paris Métro

The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...

 station.

History

The two parts of the bridge, known as the Passerelle Damiette (on the right-bank side) and the Passerelle de Constantine on the left-bank side, were authorized by an act of 18 June 1836, in favor of M. de Beaumont, the projector, who would recoup his expenses, valued at 380.000 fr., by collecting tolls. The bridges, opened to traffic January 1838, were a pair of pedestrian suspension bridge

Suspension bridge

A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...

s, constructed by the engineer Surville. The Passerelle Damiette was destroyed in the 1848 Revolution, while the Passerelle de Constantine, built between 1636 and 1638, collapsed in 1872 owing to corrosion in its cables.

The current bridge was constructed in 1876, as part of Haussmann's renovation of Paris

Haussmann's renovation of Paris

Haussmann's Renovation of Paris, or the Haussmann Plan, was a modernization program of Paris commissioned by Napoléon III and led by the Seine prefect, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870...

, and opened on 25 August 1877. It is named in honour of Maximilien de Béthune, duke of Sully

Sully-sur-Loire

Sully-sur-Loire is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.-Castle:The château of Sully-sur-Loire dates from the end of the 14th century and is a prime example of medieval fortress. It was built at a strategic crossing of the Loire river...

 (1560-1641) and minister to Henry IV

Henry IV of France

Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....

. It was designed by the engineers Paul Vaudrey and Gustave Brosselin. They set it at an angle of about 45 degrees to the river banks, which means that it gives a splendid view over the quais of the Île Saint-Louis

Île Saint-Louis

The Île Saint-Louis is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France . The island is named after King Louis IX of France ....

 and Notre Dame

Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...

. The southern part consists of three cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

 arches, while the northern part, over the narrower arm of the river, consists of a central 42m arch in cast iron and two 15m arches in masonry

Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...

.

External links

• Site of the Mairie de Paris — Left Bank bridge — Right Bank bridge
• Aerial view on Google Maps

Location

Bridge location on the Seine:

Downstream: Pont de la Tournelle Pont de la Tournelle Pont de la Tournelle , is an arch bridge spanning the river Seine in Paris.-History:The location of the Pont de la Tournelle is the site of successive structures....   Pont Marie Pont Marie The Pont Marie is a bridge which crosses the Seine in Paris, France.The bridge links the Île Saint-Louis to the quai de l'Hôtel de Ville and is one of three bridges designed to allow traffic flow between the Île Saint-Louis and the Left and Right banks of Paris...

Upstream: Pont d'Austerlitz Pont d'Austerlitz The Pont d'Austerlitz is a bridge which crosses the Seine River in Paris, France.-Location:The bridge links the 12th arrondissement at the rue Ledru-Rollin, to the 5th and 13th arrondissements, at the Jardin des Plantes.- History :...