Viaduct with larger spans, typically lack sufficient horizontal and vertical clearance for large ships. See the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France. Designed by the French bridge engineer Michel Virlogeux, in collaboration with architect Norman Robert Foster, it is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one pier's summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft)—slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 38 m (125 ft) shorter than the Empire State Building. It was formally dedicated on 14 December 2004 and opened to traffic
Richard de Millau the investiture quarrel between the papacy and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire between 1075 and 1122. Much of which revolved around the Provençal lands in the Kingdom of Burgundy, attached to the Holy Roman Empire. Born about 1052AD into an extremely powerful house at the time. His family were of viscounts of Millau, and their actions involved the continuity of power strategies between the various aristocratic families of France. He was the fourth child of Richard II (? - 1051), Vicount de Millau (1023) and his wife Gévaudan. His brother Bernat had been abbott of abbé de Saint-Victor