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Part Three
Planning and control
Operations in practice The Millau bridge 1
For decades French motorists called the little bridge at
Millau ‘the Millau cork’. It held up all the traffic on what
should have been one of the busiest north–south routes
through France. No longer. In place of the little bridge is
one of the most impressive and beautiful civil engineering
successes of the last century. Lord Foster, the bridge’s
architect, described it as having the ‘delicacy of a
butterfly’, with the environment dominating the scene
rather than the bridge. And although the bridge appears
to float on the clouds, it is also a remarkable technical
achievement. At 300 metres it is the highest road bridge
in the world, weighing 36,000 tonnes. The central pillar is
higher than the Eiffel Tower, and took only three years
to complete, notwithstanding the new engineering
techniques that were needed.
Outline plans for the bridge were produced back in
1987, but construction did not begin until December
2001. It was completed in December 2004, on time
and budget, having proved the effectiveness of its
new construction technique. The traditional method of
building this type of bridge (called a ‘cable stay bridge’)
involves building sections of the roadway on the ground
and using cranes to put them in position. Because of
its height, 300 metres above the valley floor, a new
technique had to be developed. First, the towers were
built in the usual way, with steel-reinforced concrete.
The roadway was built on the high ground at either side
of the valley and then pushed forward into space as
further sections were added, until it met with precision
(to the nearest centimetre) in the centre. This technique
had never been tried before and it carried engineering
risks, which added to the complexity of the project
management task.
It all began with a massive recruitment drive. ‘People
came from all over France for employment. We knew it
would be a long job. We housed them in apartments and
houses in and around Millau. Guarantees were given to
all the tenants and a unit was set up to help everyone
with the paperwork involved in this. It was not unusual
for a worker to be recruited in the morning and have
his apartment available the same evening with electricity
and a telephone available’ (Jean-Pierre Martin, Chief
Engineer of Groupe Eiffage and director of building).
Over 3,000 workers contributed to the project, with 500
of them on the project site, working in all weathers to
complete the project on time. ‘Every day I would ask
myself what was the intense force that united these men’,
said Jean-Pierre Martin. ‘They had a very strong sense of
pride and they belonged to a community that was to build
the most beautiful construction in the world. It was never
necessary to shout at them to get them to work. Life on a
construction site has many ups and downs. Some days
we were frozen. Other days we were subjected to a heat
wave. But even on days of bad weather, one had to force
them to stay indoors. Yet often they would leave their
lodgings to return to work.’
Many different businesses were involved in building
the bridge. All of them needed coordinating in such a
way that they would cooperate towards the common
goal, but yet avoid any loss of overall responsibility.
Jean-Pierre Martin came up with the idea of
9 autonomous work groups. One group was placed at
the foot of each of the 7 piles that would support the
bridge and two others at either end. The motto adopted
by the teams was ‘rigueur et convivialité’, rigorous quality
and friendly cooperation. ‘The difficulty with this type of
project is keeping everyone enthusiastic throughout its
duration. To make this easier we created these small
groups. Each of the 9 teams’ shifts were organized in
relays between 7 and 14 hours, and 14 and 21 hours.’
So, to maintain the good atmosphere, no expense was
spared to celebrate important events in the construction
of the viaduct, for example, a pile or another piece of
road completed. Sometimes, to boost the morale of
the teams, and to celebrate these important events
Jean-Pierre would organize a ‘méchouis’ – a spit roast
of lamb, especially popular with the many workers who
were of North African origin.
Source: Jean-Philippe Arles/Reuters/Corbis