Passerelle Debilly bridge in Paris
Now classified as one of the historical monuments in Paris, the Passerelle Debilly is a cycle and foot bridge over the River Seine that was constructed in 1900 for the World Fair and became a permanent bridge after it was relocated slightly to its current position.
A bit of history
When plans were being put in place for the 1900 World Fair in Paris, it was decided that a temporary bridge needed to be erected in order to accommodate people wishing to go from one part of the exhibition on the left bank of the River Seine over to other exhibits on the right bank.
So it was decided that a metal pedestrian bridge would be erected and demolished a few years later, just like the Eiffel Tower was supposed to have been demolished after 20 years from its inauguration at the 1889 World Fair.
It was then designed by the engineers Lion, Amedee Alby and Jean Resal, who was also instrumental in the design of the impressive Alexandre III bridge in Paris, and the construction of the bridge was first approved in the October of 1898.
The bridge was completed in the April of 1900 and had been referred to by different names such as the Magdeberg or the de Billy footbridge, and when the City of Paris took over the management of the structure, they had the position of it moved in 1906 to its current location.
It was then officially named the Debilly footbridge, which was named after an Imperial General by the name of de Billy, who had been killed at the Battle of Jena in 1806 during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, it then became a permanent bridge over the River Seine.
About the Passerelle Debilly
The Passerelle Debilly is made of metal and has a total length of 120 metres and a usable width of 8 metres, which is a footbridge purely for pedestrians and cyclists, and you will see that there are three spans, with a central span and arch that has an intermediate deck, yet the end spans are only half arches.
It was put onto the list of historical monuments in Paris back in 1966, and bar some maintenance works in the 1990s like repainting and redoing the decking with tropical hardwoods, the bridge is still virtually the same as it was first designed to be including the ceramic green tiles as a decoration that are like waves.
Visiting Passerelle Debilly over the River Seine
You will find the Passerelle Debilly is located upstream of the Pont de l’Alma bridge and downstream of the Pont d’Iena, which is the bridge in Paris closest to the famous landmark in Paris of the Eiffel Tower and opposite the Trocadero Gardens where you can discover the Palais de Chaillot.
Yet this footbridge also connects to other impressive tourist attractions in Paris as it goes from the Quai Branly where you will find the Musee du Quai Branly on the left bank of the River Seine in the 7th Arrondissement, over to the Avenue de New York where you will find the Palais de Tokyo in the 16th Arrondissement.
And when it comes to reaching the Passerelle Debilly by public transport in Paris, the nearest RER train station is the Pont de l’Alma stop via line C, and the nearest Metro station is the Iena stop via line 9.
Yet you also have the Batobus water bus service that has a dock nearby, and as well as bus lines 32, 42, 63, 72, 82 and 92, there are also numerous tours in Paris that have stops close to this bridge including the l’OpenTour busss.
