Pont de la reine Jeanne

  • Pont de la Reine Jeanne
  • Pont de la Reine Jeanne
Verdon Tourisme > Pont de la reine Jeanne
Saint-Benoît-en

The existence of a bridge enabling cattle to cross the Coulomp at this location is attested as early as the 13th century, but the current bridge was built in the 18th century.

A bridge was built between 1680 and 1687 to cross the Coulomp river below the village, but it soon fell into disrepair. This wooden bridge was particularly useful for sheep on their way to summer pastures. In 1727, Georges Vallon, architect to the States of Provence, drew up an estimate for the construction of a single-arch bridge, in which he specified that he himself had begun work on repairing the 17th-century bridge in 1714. The work was carried out by contractor Joseph Blanc of Le Fugeret. It resulted in a modification to the 1727 project, which increased the span of the arch from 20 to 32 meters, to avoid setting the right bank abutment on an area of gravel. The work was completed in 1733. The four buttresses shown on the Napoleonic cadastral survey are not mentioned in these early 18th-century documents. If they ever existed, the two buttresses on the left bank disappeared in the 19th or 20th century. The bridge was damaged in 1940 and the downstream parapet was rebuilt in 1942. A masonry consolidation campaign was carried out in 1978 by Sisteron firm L. Mapelle, under the direction of architect J.P. Ehruan. The name of Queen Jeanne seemed to have been attached to the bridge since time immemorial, when it was listed as a historic monument in 1928. However, it was not in use in 1830, when the Napoleonic cadastre was drawn up.

source: Inventaire général du Patrimoine culturel Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

04240 Saint-Benoît-en