the impressive work on the Rochers Noires viaduct

The structure had not been used for years and was in danger of ruin. Between the towns of Lapleau and Soursac, the Rochers Noirs viaduct is currently being rehabilitated in Corrèze. An exceptional heritage for a major project. Site visit a few months before its reopening to the public.

You have to take a closer look to better appreciate the work. For more than a century, at 92 meters above the ground, it has spanned the Luzège.

In a steep Corrèze landscape, we surprise the imposing Rochers Noirs viaduct in full facelift. The day of our filming, the decking or how to replace the old sheets of the bridge deck.

” Here, we can see the existing decking which is a decking with a six mm sheet which was not stiffened, and therefore we can see that there is quite a bit of deformation, hollowness with the use of time. And here, we are on the new decking sheet, a little thicker and above all reduced with small beams underneath“, says Loriana Pace, representative of the project manager.

The work began in September 2022, department, State, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Europe, Heritage Foundation, Crédit Agricole invested nearly ten million euros to save this viaduct, which was threatening ruin. “There was corrosion on the cables, which meant that all the cables were changed and also the decking, that is to say the deck of the viaduct, which was completely redone,” explains Jean-Marie Taguet, deputy vice-president for roads and buildings at the Corrèze departmental council.

All that remains to be done are paintings and guardrails for this rare Gisclard type structure; only around forty of this type of viaduct has been built in the world.

“In fact, there are only five left in the world, which have not been modified and which are classified as historic monuments. It is quite rare as a typology of viaduct and then it is quite rare to find one still awake “, smiles Loriana Pace, the representative of the project manager.

Renovation thanks to Roger Fraysse and his association. For nearly forty years, he fought to ensure that this viaduct did not fall into oblivion.

“We almost suffered so much to see the state in which the viaduct was for so long, that today, I am delighted to discover the site, and I am obviously very happy about it. It was worth fighting for“, says Roger Fraysse, president of the ASTTRE 19 association, very active in saving the bridge.

Fight so that next September, pedestrians will happily cross the 140 meters of this exceptional bridge.