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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Pont du premier chemin de fer (également sur commune de Saint-Priest-en-Jarez)

Villars, Loire, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit)
Protection
inscrit MH
Extent of protection
Le pont (cad. Villars AK 65 ; Saint-Priest-en-Jarez AK 2) : inscription par arrêté du 4 octobre 2001
Protection dates
2001/10/04 : inscrit MH
Type
pont
Main period of construction
2e quart 19e siècle
Dates
1827
Architect or builder
BEAUNIER Louis-Antoine (ingénieur)
Ownership
propriété privée
Lieu-dit
Bois-Monzil
Commune
Villars
Département
Loire
Region
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Country
France
Coordinates
45.46523, 4.37037
Mérimée reference
PA42000008

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica)

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1826 map "BnF, département Cartes et plans, GE D-6665" (Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica)).

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This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

Ce pont est le seul ouvrage d'art conservé de la première ligne de chemin de fer construite en 1827 par l'ingénieur Louis Antoine Beaunier. Il apparaît comme le plus vieux pont de chemin de fer en Europe continentale. Le pont est un ouvrage assez modeste, constitué d'une arche unique et construit en pierres de taille. La construction est renforcée par des chaînages de pierre à l'angle des murs maçonnés et à l'intrados de la voûte.

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

This bridge is the sole surviving engineering work from the first railway line built in 1827 by engineer Louis Antoine Beaunier. It appears as the oldest railway bridge in continental Europe. The bridge is a fairly modest work, consisting of a single arch and built in dressed stone. The construction is reinforced by stone chainings at the corner of the masonry walls and at the intrados of the vault.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
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