The Viaduc de Garabit, a Gustave Eiffel Masterpiece
Rows of red rivets rise into the sky, holding in place an archway reaching towards the stars. Above the arch, a long platform, ruler straight, dissects heaven from earth yet links two sides of a rocky valley, comparable in rugged appearance. Far beneath the arch, a rambling river threads its way, ultramarine by day, inky black into the night.
I cannot imagine anyone forgets their first sighting of the Viaduc de Garabit, in the Cantal département. I won’t. Despite any anticipation of an impending observation, it is a wondrous spectacle. It’s like seeing the Eiffel Tower in Paris for the first time, perhaps spotted from a distance then looming large as you approach.
If you’ve seen La Tour Eiffel before, the Viaduc de Garabit may look strangely similar. That’s because they are, the two structures were designed by the same architect, one Monsieur Gustave Eiffel and his team Émile Nouguier and structural engineer Maurice Koechlin.