The Glénic viaduct took three years to build from March 1902 to October 1904 and opened for business on 15 July 1906.
Its construction was made of granite rubbleblue from the Villegondry quarry, a village in the commune of Glénic where 70 workers without mechanical means worked. The transport of the blocks was done by carts drawn by oxen. The foundations of the piers required the construction of two dams and the diversion of the Creuse to dry out the bed. Excavators, quarry workers, masons, lumberjacks, joiners, carpenters… many trades have participated in this work of art. Several hundred workers worked 12 hours a day during the week and 6 hours on Sundays except the first Sunday of the month which was payday (0.50 francs per hour for a mason).
Crossing the Creuse, it provided a rail link (steam train) from Gueret to La Chatre. The line was 75.5kms long and could only be built thanks to a grant from the Creuse General Council who provided 4000 francs per kilometre.
Passenger trains ran on the viaduct until 1939 and freight until 1952 when the line was finally closed.
There are three viaducts of this type along the line, one at Saint-Fiel which crosses the Naute Valley at 152.2m high with 12 arches; Glénic viaduct at 202.1m high with 16 arches over the Creuse; and Genouillac at 208.6m high with 16 arches which spans the petite Creuse river.
The viaduct was cleared in the 2010s, making it accessible to pedestrians and makes for a pleasant walk or cycle ride. Check out some of the views from the pictures below.
More details can be found at https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaduc_de_Gl%C3%A9nic
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