Thirty percent of concrete structures in France “unsafe”

Concrete bridge

Among these structures, reinforced concrete bridges, mainly built in the fifties and sixties, are the most vulnerable, say many experts, who are alarmed by a lack of maintenance.

The news of France’s own unsound bridges comes just two days after the collapse of the viaduct in Genoa that cost the lives of 39 people.

Concrete bridge

There is a lack of maintenance affecting most of France’s 200,000 bridges, according to Christian Tridon, the president of the National Union of Specialists in Repair and Structural Reinforcement (Strres).

“One bridge a day falls out of the list of buildings considered to be in good condition,” he told Le Figaro.

However, the most important and most frequented are very well monitored, including the Millau viaduct – the tallest bridge in the world, the Normandy bridge and the three-kilometre bridge to the Ile de Ré.