Marseille Swing Bridges
Ponts tournant de Marseille
In 1878 The Engineer provided details of the hydraulic equipment of a swing bridge in Marseille, of which a model was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition. 'The graving docks at Marseilles are divided from the harbour by a strip of land 300ft. in width, and communicate with the harbour by a channel 92ft. wide and 300ft. in length. The bridge we illustrate crosses this channel with a single span, the largest, we believe, of the kind ever executed. It consists of three main girders .... supporting a superstructure 203ft. in length, and 41ft. in width, and of a footpath carried outside on cantilevers fixed to one main girder, and of a large cross girder composed of three ribs and top and bottom flanges .... supporting the main girders, whose central axis passes through the centre of gravity of the bridge at a point 77ft. from the extremity of the counterbalance or land side of tho bridge. Underneath this cross girder an hydraulic press is placed, which serves the double purpose of lifting the bridge off its bearings when it is to be opened, and acting as the pivot for rotation. ....'[1] [2]
Old photo here of the Pont de l'Abattoir, constructed in 1883 by Ateliers Daydé et Pillé
Recent photo of the Pont tournant d'Arenc here.
In 1896 Engineering provided information on the four large swing bridges existing in Marseille at that time.[3]