In this issue of Bonfiglioli News we are delighted to report on an item brought to our attention by our French subsidiary, involving a unique application for our 316 L4 222 FZ gearboxes in Rouen.Rouen is the capital city of the upper Normandy region, the birthplace of Gustave Flaubert, the city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431 and, a bit less dramatically, the city where footballing wizard David Trezeguet grew up. Rouen owes its economic prosperity to its port that, paradoxically, lies 80 km from the sea on the river Seine.

The mighty river is easily navigable and brings a large quantity of sea-going goods directly into the heart of France, creating wealth for much of the region’s industry and commerce.

It is no surprise therefore that the city has grown up on both banks of the Seine. A number of mobile bridges have been built over the years to improve connections between the two sides of the river without unduly impeding river traffic.

The most noteworthy of these bridges is going to be the city’s 6th Bridge, one of the biggest of its kind not only in Rouen but anywhere in Europe.

The 6th Bridge is being built to facilitate the movement of traffic in the residential city centre, and to revive the relationship between the city and its port. Some 100,000 vehicles cross the river in the residential west of Rouen every day.

The new bridge will make it easier to cross between the city’s north and south banks and enable its inhabitants to maintain the lively commercial and personal relationship with the port that has always typified Rouen.

By taking traffic away from some of Rouen’s most congested roads, the new bridge will also help reduce noise and pollution in the city centre. The 6th Bridge towers 86 metres over the banks of the Seine and is 670 metres long in total.

Instead of swinging to allow ships through, the bridge lifts under the action of winches installed at the bottom of futuristic looking pillars. The mechanism raises a section of the bridge weighing 2400 tons to a maximum height of 55 metres. The cost of this monumental public work is 60 million Euros.When finished, the new bridge will allow even large ships to transit up and down the river.

It will also form an impressive backdrop to the Rouen Armada meeting of historic ships to be held in Rouen from the 5th to the 14th of July 2008, in which the Italian navy’s training ship, Amerigo Vespucci, will be taking part.

Bridge construction company Eiffel has used our Series 316 L4 222 FZ gearboxes to satisfy the technical requirements for the bridge. The system involves:Bonfiglioli was chosen as supplier for various reasons:
- Our range was extensive enough to include precisely the right gearbox for the job.
- We were able to provide excellent technical and commercial assistance in the choice and configuration of the gearbox.
- We were able to provide on-site technical assistance through our French subsidiary.

This particularly challenging and unique application provides yet further confirmation of Bonfiglioli’s design capabilities and our ability to develop solutions at the very highest level.