The Guit bridge

Access to the Guit bridge in Bordeaux

Just behind Saint-Jean station, the Guit bridge spans the multiple railway tracks which allow major national lines and small regional lines to serve Bordeaux. Almost parallel to the Garonne, it connects the two sectors of the Saint-Jean district separated by the station and the railway tracks. On the east side, the bridge begins along the parking lot of Bordeaux Armagnac station in the continuity of the rue des gamins. It leads to the west on the city center side on a roundabout which serves rue Amédée Saint-Germain which runs along the tracks to the southwest, rue Pelleport towards the Nansouty district, rue Furtado towards Capucins-Victoire, and the rue Charles Domercq which runs along the Saint-Jean station to the quai de Paludate. Alongside the road, the Guit bridge is lined with a dedicated tram bridge: the tracks arrive opposite the bridge from Belcier station and continue on rue Charles Domercq in front of the station. Lines C and D of the Bordeaux tramway pass daily over the Pont du Guit.

The origins of the Guit bridge

The history of the Saint-Jean-Belcier district shows a bridge over the Guit from the 18th century: first a wooden footbridge, then a stone bridge in the 19th century, it then spanned the estay de Bègles. Destroyed when the course of the estay was diverted, this old Guit bridge resonates with the current viaduct. It was built to link the Belcier district to the Saint-Jean district, the whole having been separated by the creation of the station and the progressive multiplication of tracks. The area behind the station suffered from its isolation.

While the Guit bridge alone did not solve this problem, the extension of tram line C to Bègles was able to breathe new life into the neighborhood. This extension required the doubling of the Guit road bridge, carried out in 2006: a technical feat which consisted in the construction of a second structure a few centimeters from the first, without interrupting rail traffic and taking into account automobile traffic. dense in the area. The Tramway bridge is made up of two ramps of 120 and 150 meters respectively at the ends and a 200-meter bridge over the 15 tracks. The 6 concrete piles were built at night, between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.

In 2016, new work was carried out, as part of the creation of the Belcier station, to cut a passage under the building: the Guit bridge was then closed to traffic in both directions for an entire month. , from mid-July to mid-August, then restricted to one direction of traffic until the end of August. A period which demonstrated the importance of this bridge for reaching the south of the city and the Belcier-Armagnac district.

News from the Guit bridge

The Saint-Jean station area is still undergoing development. In 2019, pavement operations on the roundabout located at the foot of the bridge were carried out at night, resulting in the closure of the bridge overnight, with the exception of the bus line n ° 11, whose traffic has been maintained. Likewise, in July 2020, the finalization of the ramp at the Pont du Guit required the construction of asphalt over two nights.

During the work carried out on the Guit bridge, the city of Bordeaux promotes the circulation of buses and the use of the P2 car park. The independent tram part is not affected.

"PONT DU GUIT" by marsupilami92 is licensed under CC BY 2.0