More info
The Pont Chauderon is the second of Lausanne's three major bridges over the Flon Valley. It links the western districts of the city, connecting the plunging Avenue de Beaulieu to the railway station via Avenue Louis-Ruchonnet.
The design of the bridge was the result of a competition held by the municipality of Lausanne in 1901, which crowned the architects Alphonse Laverrière and Eugène Monod with the engineers Louis de Vallières and Albert Simon. The multidisciplinary composition of this team favoured a combination of technical and aesthetic research.
The bridge, 250 metres long, was built between 1904 and 1905. The chosen solution aligned six metal arches embedded in concrete. Two pairs of monumental stone pylons mark the two heads of the bridge and ensure its integration into the urban fabric. Like the lighting fixtures that punctuate the deck, they are designed in a geometric Art Nouveau style.
The Tour Galfetti, an architectural feature constructed by Aurelio Galfetti in 1987, can be found at the end of the bridge. Eight stories high but it is even more impressive from the inside.
