Paris: Pont de Bir Hakeim - les Forgerons-Riveteurs by wallyg

The <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/1395916621/">pont de Bir-Hakeim</a> crosses 237 meters of the Seine, connecting the Left Bank's 15th arrondissement with the Right Bank's 16th arrondissement, and passing through the île des Cygnes. Originally named pont de Passy, after the commune it reaches, it was built between 1903 and 1905 to replace passerelle de Passy (Passy Footbridge), which was constructed for the 1878 Exposition Universelle. It was renamed in 1948 to commemorate the Battle of Bir Hakeim, fought by the Free French forces against the Nazi Afrika Korps in 1942. Designed by Louis Biette, and built by Daydé &amp; Pillé, the bridge was the result of a 1902 competition by the Metropolitan railway and Seine Navigation departments. The two-teir arch bridge's lower level comprises of two lateral roadways separated by a central walkway, and the upper level contains a railway viaduct, carrying line 6 of the Paris Métro. The viaduct is supported by metal colonnades, except over île des Cygnes where it rests on a masonry arch. Technically, the bridge is two unequal metal structures, each comprised of three cantilever type spans separated by the masonry arch. The <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/1395914351">central arch of the viaduct</a> is decorated with four monumental stone statues in high-relief, L'Électricité et Le Commerce by Antoine Injalbert, and La Science et Le Travail by Jules Coutan. A staircase connects to île des Cygnes on the downstream side of the arch connects pedestrian traffic to île des Cygnes. The upstream side supports a lookout with <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/">la statue de <i>la France renaissante</i></a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/1395915923/">views of the Eiffel Tower</a>. The arch springs are decorated with two cast-iron sculputral groups by Gustave Michel, <i>les Nautes</i> (The Boatmen), which attaches a blazon of the town of Paris to the pile, and <i>les Forgerons-Riveteurs</i> (The Ironsmith-Riveters) (pictured), who afix a blazon of République française. Many commemorative plates decorate the viaduct bridge, including several dedicated to soldiers fallen in Africa during the Second World War.