The Chauderon-Montbenon is the second of three major Lausanne bridges spanning the Flon Valley. It connects the city’s west side areas, following the plunging slope of Avenue de Beaulieu to the train station via Avenue Louis-Ruchonnet.
The bridge’s design was the winner of a contest held in Lausanne in 1901, and was by the architects Alphonse Laverrière and Eugène Monod, who worked with the engineers Louis de Vallières and Albert Simon. The multidisciplinary make-up of this team helped to bring together technical research and aesthetics.
The 250-metre bridge was built between 1904 and 1905. It has six metal arches embedded in concrete. Two pairs of large stone posts stand at the two ends of the bridge and mark its insertion into the fabric of the city. Like the lights that punctuate the deck, they are in a geometrical Art Nouveau style.
