Île de Ré bridge clearance...anybody know?

Greenheart

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 Dec 2010
Messages
10,384
Visit site
The bridge even has a Wikipedia entry, but detail is virtually nil.

I flew out from La Rochelle recently and was impressed by the bridge, but wondered how high it is. Not that the bridge prevents access anywhere by taller masts.

7589302436_668143b01e_z.jpg
 
Thanks for that. I wonder why it's that high? Any yacht whose air draft exceeds 28m, is hardly going to be prevented from proceeding by the necessity to go outside the island.

Maybe it was done that way purely for art's sake?

ile-de-re-bridge-correct-size_rounded_corners.jpg
 
I've sailed through it on a Moody 44. Like all bridges, no matter how much higher it is than your mast, you always feel nervous on the approach as it never looks as high as it is.
 
There are two, port and starboard channels for small boats - the centre is for commercial vessels.
Those who have been through it recently may correct me but that was the situation in 2002 when I used it fairly regularly, and the two side channels are considerably narrower (and lower) than the centre span.
 
Top