New mobile footbridge in Le Havre

“The development of the Docks district now requires improving pedestrian and cycle links in order to better connect the various facilities to one another and link them to the rest of the city. This mobile footbridge will greatly contribute to making journeys more pleasant, in addition to being a beautiful urban object, ”explains Edouard Philippe, Mayor of Le Havre, President of Le Havre Seine Metropole urban community. 

In Le Havre, the Docks district has experienced strong development in recent years, with the establishment of many facilities of community interest such as Les Bains des Docks, the Carre des docks, square des docks and the student campus. 

In order to improve soft links in the district and to better connect it to the station on the one hand and to the Saint-Nicolas district on the other hand, Le Havre Seine Métropole will develop a mobile pedestrian bridge to ensure the crossing of the Paul basin -Vatine.

This structure, with a span of around 80 meters, will meet accessibility, safety and security standards without hampering the smooth running of the many nautical and recreational activities in the Vatine basin, such as the famous Transat Jacques-Vabre. The future footbridge was designed as a pedestrian street with a traffic width of 4 meters, allowing the crossing of pedestrian and cyclist flows. During nautical events, it can be transformed into a belvedere for the public or a mooring pontoon for sailboats.

The footbridge will benefit from a careful design in order to appear as a beautiful urban object placed on the water. It will be visible at night thanks to a luminous line which signals its presence and brings lightness to it, like a levitating footbridge over the water.

The construction of this footbridge was entrusted by Le Havre Seine Métropole to a group of companies led by Vinci Construction Maritime et Fluviale .

Work Schedule:

• Design and drafting of regulatory files: December 2020> June 2021
• Work in the manufacturing workshop: June 2021> October 2021
• Work on site: November 2021> February 2022
• Open to the public: spring 2022

Financing:

This transaction represents an investment of 3.2 million euros excluding tax and the financing plan is broken down as follows:

• Le Havre Seine Métropole: € 1,235,000
• Normandy region: € 718,000
• European Union: € 1,252,000

Source and photo: lehavre.fr