Michel Virlogeux: strength, utility, beauty

Michel Virlogeux – a French construction engineer and specialist in the field of bridges – is a graduate of the French technical university École Polytechnique, the prestigious École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and Université Pierre et Marie Curie. During his professional career, he has designed around 100 bridges and viaducts, including the famous Normandy Bridge. In addition to his professional career, he carries on his pedagogical activities and actively participates in meetings of association related to civil engineering. In an interview with Marlena Machura exclusively for the readers of the “Mosty” journal, he replies to questions about his greatest projects, he reveals what engineers professionally involved in designing engineering structures should particularly focus on, and what in his opinion is the most important aspect of bridges.

Michel Virlogeux: strength, utility, beauty

What should you pay attention to in the first place when designing a bridge? To its aesthetics or the technology in which it is made?

Michel Virlogeux: The first thing to pay attention to is the character of the place (site) where the bridge is to appear. Next, you need to think about what kind of structuralsolution can be used in this given place. Sometimes it is enough to look at the site so that inspiration immediately comes and a plan is made. An example is the Normandy Bridge, which is a large cable-stayed bridge. It was absolutely obvious that it was necessary to creat...