Because to go from 2 x 2 to 2 x 3 lanes, the A480 must widen its lateral grip. However, at this point, the part of the bridge where tram C runs – the oldest part – ends at the abutment on the immediate edge of the current roadway, preventing widening: a new bridge must therefore be built. On the other hand, the bridge where cars circulate was built in 2005, it is longer than the historic bridge and is therefore compatible with the widening of the road network.
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The cut in line C planned for this summer will be delayed
The side walls of the new structure have already been completed and the vault will be completed when the scaffolding is completed. Once the concrete vault is poured over the scaffolding, the scaffolding will be dismantled. Then the new bridge will be, using a huge machine, lifted and installed as an extension of the existing structure. Once the structure has been moved, its lower part (the raft) will be poured.
For this complex operation to insert the new bridge, traffic on the tram line C should initially be interrupted 11 weeks this summer, from June 22 to August 24, from the Vallier-Catania stop. Due to the delay in construction due to the Covid-19 crisis, this period of tram interruption will obviously be delayed, probably on August-September, but the precise timetable has not yet been finalized.
Another spectacular site for the A480, a little further north, there also under the eyes of tens of thousands of daily motorists: that at the Vercors bridge, where Aréa is currently building an anti-pollution basin (between the central roadway and the Vercors exit ramp, when driving in the Lyon-Grenoble direction).
“This structure will allow the chronic treatment of platform water, the regulation of water flows to the outside environment and the containment of any accidental pollution,” said Aréa. Right now, concrete is being poured to make this basin, hence the permanent noria of mixer trucks bringing this concrete ready for use.
Other projects are also very active elsewhere on the A480… and even beyond, towards the north, where night work to build the carpool lane and that reserved for public transport is currently in full swing on the ‘A48, between interchanges 14 (Saint-Égrève north) and 15 (Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux and Saint-Égrève activity zone).
The commissioning of the new A480 remains scheduled for the first half of 2022.
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