Normally I don't post on Saturdays, but the 15th of each month is the day for the mid-month theme “subways”, which I share with bloggers from NYC, Budapest and Stockholm. You can find today’s and some related posts by using the following links:
New York City Daily Blog - Stockholm by pixels - Budapest by Andrea Gerak - Peter's Paris
(You can also find some related posts on my previous blog via this link: PHO.)
As I at the moment am writing something about the 37 bridges which are crossing the Seine in Paris, I will try to combine this with the subway theme.
Most of the Paris metro lines cross the Seine in tunnels. There are a few exceptions; two bridges have an extra level for the metro (Pont de Bir-Hakeim and Pont de Bercy), two are pure metro bridges, the Pont Rouelle and the Viaduc d’Austerlitz.
The Pont Rouelle was built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition to enable a railway link between the “Petite Ceinture” and the Invalides Station. This link is what I put in blue on the below map which shows the Paris railway network around 1900 before the metro started to take over. The “Petite Ceinture” was a circular railway created during the 1850’s with the aim to connect the then existing Paris railway stations of which only a few are still in service – the green / red circles. (One day I may make special post about all this.) On the map I have added, in white, where you can find the Pont Rouelle and the Viaduc d’Austerlitz.
The Invalides Station (Gare des Invalides) which was created in 1867 is still there. It served as a railway station until 1935. Since 1948 it’s the Air France terminal for the Orly airport and since 1979 the underground part serves also as a metro station. 
The Pont Rouelle (named after a French 18th century chemist) served until the 30’s and then this railway line was abandoned, like the bridge and like most of the “Petite Ceinture”. In 1988, this branch and the bridge were put back into service and are now in use for the express metro network, called RER (line C). As you can see from the below photo, the Pont de Rouelle crosses the Seine over the “Swan Island” (Ile des Cygnes) – as does the Pont de Bir-Hakeim (in the front, see previous post) and the Pont de Grenelle. Just behind the Pont de Grenelle, on the very top of the photo, you can find the Paris copy of the Statue of Liberty (see previous posts).
New York City Daily Blog - Stockholm by pixels - Budapest by Andrea Gerak - Peter's Paris
(You can also find some related posts on my previous blog via this link: PHO.)
As I at the moment am writing something about the 37 bridges which are crossing the Seine in Paris, I will try to combine this with the subway theme.
Most of the Paris metro lines cross the Seine in tunnels. There are a few exceptions; two bridges have an extra level for the metro (Pont de Bir-Hakeim and Pont de Bercy), two are pure metro bridges, the Pont Rouelle and the Viaduc d’Austerlitz.
The Pont Rouelle was built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition to enable a railway link between the “Petite Ceinture” and the Invalides Station. This link is what I put in blue on the below map which shows the Paris railway network around 1900 before the metro started to take over. The “Petite Ceinture” was a circular railway created during the 1850’s with the aim to connect the then existing Paris railway stations of which only a few are still in service – the green / red circles. (One day I may make special post about all this.) On the map I have added, in white, where you can find the Pont Rouelle and the Viaduc d’Austerlitz.
The Invalides Station (Gare des Invalides) which was created in 1867 is still there. It served as a railway station until 1935. Since 1948 it’s the Air France terminal for the Orly airport and since 1979 the underground part serves also as a metro station. The Pont Rouelle (named after a French 18th century chemist) served until the 30’s and then this railway line was abandoned, like the bridge and like most of the “Petite Ceinture”. In 1988, this branch and the bridge were put back into service and are now in use for the express metro network, called RER (line C). As you can see from the below photo, the Pont de Rouelle crosses the Seine over the “Swan Island” (Ile des Cygnes) – as does the Pont de Bir-Hakeim (in the front, see previous post) and the Pont de Grenelle. Just behind the Pont de Grenelle, on the very top of the photo, you can find the Paris copy of the Statue of Liberty (see previous posts).
The Viaduc d’Austerlitz dates from 1905 and is since the beginning solely dedicated to the metro (line 5). It crosses the river in one single metallic span, with arcs above the deck in order to allow a large free space for the navigation. The big stone abutments at each end of the bridge are generously decorated in the style of those days (by J-C Formigé who was responsible for a lot of the Paris metro installations, the parts which are in viaducs, lines 2 and 6).
As with my other "Seine bridge posts", you can see the photos also "in full" and as a slide show on Ipernity.
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