International Volvo Photo Locations Part 172
1965 – Volvo Amazon
2015 – Pont de l’Alma in Paris (Google Streetview)
Pont de l’Alma (Alma Bridge in English) is an arch bridge in Paris across the Seine. It was named to commemorate the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War, in which the Franco-British alliance achieved victory over the Russian army on 20 September 1854.
Construction took place between 1854 and 1856. It was inaugurated by Napoleon III on 2 April 1856. Each of the four piers was decorated with a statue of military nature: a Zouave and a grenadier by Georges Diébolt, and a skirmisher and an artilleryman by Arnaud.
The bridge serves as a measuring instrument for water levels in times of flooding on the Seine: access to the footpaths by the river embankments usually is closed when the Seine’s level reaches the feet of the Zouave; when the water hits his thighs, the river is unnavigable. During the great flood of the Seine in 1910, the level reached his shoulders. The French Civil Service uses the Pont de la Tournelle, not the Pont de l’Alma, to gauge flood levels.
The bridge underwent complete reconstruction between 1970 and 1974, as it had been too narrow to accommodate the increasing traffic both on and below it; moreover, the structure had subsided some 80 centimeters. Only the statue of the Zouave was retained: the Skirmisher was relocated to the Gravelle Stronghold in Vincennes, the Grenadier to Dijon, and the Artilleryman to La Fère.
Pont de l’Alma has a length of 153 meters and a width of 42 meters. It was designed by Paul-Martin Gallocher de Lagalisserie.
More information on en.wikipedia.org and lefildutemps.free.fr
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