Photo : Alessio Sbarbaro / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)
Le Pont d'Asfeld
The Pont d'Asfeld spans in a single dressed-stone arch the Durance gorges, at Briançon, in the Hautes-Alpes. It links the upper town to the Trois-Têtes plateau and its fort, above a void of about 55 metres. Vauban had proposed a bridge as early as 1700; the structure built follows the programme of the Marquis d'Asfeld, director general of fortifications and Vauban's successor, and dates from 1729 to 1731 according to the Mérimée database.
It bears the marquis's name, made marshal of France in 1731, a year recalled by a bronze plaque. Its end is protected by a defensive wall. Entirely restored in 1987, it has been protected as a historic monument since 1988 and is part of the Vauban fortifications ensemble classified by UNESCO.
It is discovered on foot during a walk between the Vauban citadel and Fort des Têtes.
