Paris Pont de Tolbiac bridge in France



This was the last Paris bridge to be made of stone in the late 1800s, yet after a tragic event during World War II, there are now two plaques positioned on the Paris Pont de Tolbiac bridge in France in memory of this.

About the Paris Pont de Tolbiac bridge in France



When Paris was being urbanised further on the eastern side of the city during the latter part of the 1800s, it was decided that an additional bridge needed to be constructed in between the Pont National and the Pont de Bercy, because there was such a large area in between the two.
Pont de Tolbiac Paris
The decision to construct the new bridge over the river Seine was taken in 1877, and fully financed by the city of Paris, it was designed by the engineers Bernard and Perous, after another more innovative design was turned down, which had been submitted by Gustave Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower.

And work started on the Paris Pont de Tolbiac bridge in France in 1879, which was finished and inaugurated in 1882, yet from that point this bridge in Paris does not really have much history to it, bar the fact that it was the last of the more conventional bridges made with stone masonry rather than reinforced concrete like later ones.

Yet there was one tragic event, which happened in the October of 1943, when an aeroplane crashed into it after being hit by Germans during World War II, and after the Liberation of Paris and the war had ended, two plaques were put in place on the bridge in memory of this incident.
It was a British plane flown by French airmen, and the first plaque reads, A la memoire des aviateurs Francais oui choisirent ici dans les eaux du fleuve une mort certaine pour epargner Paris, which generally translates in English as, To the memory of French airmen, yes chose here in the waters of the river, certain death to spare Paris.

There is also another plaque, which provides the date of the event, being 3rd October 1943, and listed below this dated are the names of the four Frenchmen who were in the plane when it crashed into the Paris Pont de Tolbiac bridge in France, along with their rank, starting with Lieutenant and Pilot Lamy.  At the very bottom of this plaque it states they were part of a Group Bombing of the Lorraine Free France Air Force.

Visiting the Paris Pont de Tolbiac bridge in France



You will find the Paris Pont de Tolbiac bridge in France going from the Quai de Bercy on the right bank of the River Seine in the 12th Arrondissement connecting to the Quai Francois Mauriac on the left bank in the 13th Arrondissement located in between the Pont National and the Pont de Bercy bridges.
Pont de Tolbiac peirs
Pont de Tolbiac traffic
And it is situated close to the Parc de Bercy with its museums and shopping village, yet is also near to different forms of Paris public transport including the Cour Saint-Emilion Metro station via line 14 and the Gare de Lyon train station, which is where Le Train Bleu restaurant is located.