Baluarte Bridge saddles in the pylons to form 152 suspenders in a two plane semi-fan layout. The tallest intermediate pier, P9, is high. It crosses a gorge in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains with a clearance of below the deck, substantially taller than the Eiffel Tower. Its clearance is higher than that of the previous record-holder, France's Millau Viaduct, which has a clearance of . The bridge's central span, long, is also the longest cable-stayed span in North America, longer than that of the John James Audubon Bridge in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Construction on the bridge began on 21 February 2008. The
Millau Viaduct two limestone plateaus, the Causse du Larzac and the , and is inside the perimeter of the Grands Causses regional natural park. The Millau Viaduct forms the last link of the preexisting A75 autoroute (known as "la Méridienne"), from Clermont-Ferrand to Pézenas (to be extended to Béziers by 2010). The A75, with the A10 and A71, provides a continuous high-speed route south from Paris through Clermont-Ferrand to the Languedoc region, and through to Spain, considerably reducing the cost and time of vehicle traffic travelling along this route. Many tourists heading to southern France and Spain follow this route because it