The oldest bridge in Paris (I) needed some work. The structure which spans the Seine to reach the western tip of the Île de la Cité, built between the 16th and 17th centuries, is currently undergoing some maintenance work after partial subsidence of its roadway.
Since November 4, traffic has been prohibited in the south-north direction due to this subsidence, caused by autumn weather. The heavy rains caused several paving stones to loosen, requiring intervention. “We had been seeing the paving stones move apart and holes appear for months,” observes a neighbor of the building completed in 1607.
“No danger”
Thus, “repair work on part of the roadway and the sidewalk edge is being carried out at Place du Pont-Neuf,” confirm the City services. A next phase of work, scheduled from January 8 to February 7, 2025, will require the neutralization of one of the cycle paths.
A first “emergency intervention” took place in November: a sheet of tar was first poured to plug the holes in the roadway while awaiting this repaving work. There is no need to worry about the general condition of Pont-Neuf, a “solid” structure presenting “absolutely no danger”, the municipality recalled a few days earlier. “The structure of the bridge is not damaged, only the paving stones need to be redone,” she specifies.
