A new hyphen over the Maine

Opened on october 15th to the pedestrians and the bikes, the Confluences bridge will let the Angers trolley cross the Maine river on the end of june 2011. This work [described in this blog in a former comment) hosted two demonstrations during the first hours of its public use : an official inauguration implemented by Angers city and a protest of inhabitants against the national reform of the pensions system.

By contrast with other parts of the trolley line, the bridge could have welcome safely trolleys, bikes and pedestrians if each of them would have had its own way. But the most noticeable element is the arch placed on the left part (and not in the middle) of the bridge on a slight descent toward the right bank.

Cleared out of scaffoldings, lifting equipments, cranes and warehouse, the bridge thrusts with grace and lightness over the river like a hyphen between to periods of the city : the past with the first hospital on the right bank, the future with the movies complex on the left bank. Because the road surface is made of a soft carpet, bikes and pedestrians will walk on it silently making the view toward the city and the point of Saint-Aubin island more enjoyable.