They had been planned for “late October-early November”. It will ultimately be a little late, but the restoration work on the Bir-Hakeim footbridge will begin at the end of November. In any case, this is what the City of Paris announces on a display hung on public roads. Closed “as a precaution” at the beginning of August, after a report made during the Marathon for All of the Olympic Games, this footbridge located in the extension of the Bir-Hakeim bridge, and linking the 15th to the 16th arrondissement, had been weakened since a car had collided in 2021.
The work, which will therefore begin “at the end of November”, should extend until February 2025. Among the planned developments, the central span will be replaced. The decking (the floor of the walkway) will be repaired and new paint will be applied to the access stairs.
Concerning the impacts for local residents, the display indicates that “all traffic will remain possible during the duration of the work”. However, two nights of intervention are also planned in mid-January “for the removal of the central span”, as well as two nights “for refitting” in mid-February. These maneuvers will result in a ban on traffic on Avenue du President Kennedy at the footbridge.
In January 2024 and faced with the possible danger of the footbridge, the Passy-Seine residents' association requested rehabilitation before the Olympic Games. Request which was then unsuccessful. “The installation of scaffolding made it possible to save the footbridge, but it is an additional solution. More than two years later, it is no longer sufficient and brings more insecurity than security,” tirelessly repeated Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, vice-president of the Passy-Seine association. From now on, the work will be able to begin and the serenity of the residents of the neighborhood will return.
