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
Route nationale 9 "Parc Natural Régional des Grandes Causses". After crossing the "Col d'Engayresque" (888 m) the RN 9 re-appears and drops into the Gorges du Tarn and onto Millau where the road crosses the river and climbs up to the "Causse du Larzac" offering views of the valley and viaduct. The RN 9 provides a trunk road route avoiding the toll on the Autoroute A 75 as it crosses the valley on the Viaduc de Millau. The RN 9 has again been replaced by the A 75 for this section. At the "Pas de l'Escalette" just South of Le Caylar Roches the