Welcome!
Discover the Pont Transbordeur
The Transporter bridge is open!
After four years of major renovation works, the gondola of the Pont Transbordeur cross again the river Charente. From April to october, the Pont Transbordeur allows cyclists and pedestrians to reach both banks of Rochefort and Échillais.
The Pont Transbordeur is open everyday from the 1st of april to the 5th of november 2023:
Opening at 10.00 on monday morning
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April: 9.30 - 12.30 and 14.00 - 18.00
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May and June: 9.30 - 12.30 and 14.00 - 18.30
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July and August: 9.30 - 19.00
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September: 9.30 - 12.30 and 14.00 - 18.30
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October until November 5th: 9.30 - 12.30 and 14.00 - 17.30
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From November 6th to April 2024: annual closure
Buy your tickets in the ticket office on the Rochefort's bank and in the 'Maison du Transbordeur' on the Échillais' bank.
Tariffs :
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One-way ticket: 2 €
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Return ticket: 3 €
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Reduced rates* (return ticket and groups up to 15 people): 2.50 €
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Children from 6 to 11: 2 €
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Free for children under 6
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*10 crossings Card - season 2022: 12 €
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* One month unlimimed crossings card: 9 €
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*Unlimited crossings Card - season 2022: 25 €
*Cards are personnal and can't be used for many people
Maison du Transbordeur - Visitor centre
In 2003, the 'Maison du Transbordeur' (Transporter Bridge visitor centre) opened in a converted ferry boat shed, in Échillais, allowing the Transporter Bridge to become a fully-fledged tourist attraction.
Discover the history of the Transporter Bridge! A temporary exhibition shows you how the State of France renovated the last transporter bridge of the country.
Free entrance. This major project led by the State can be followed this year!
Opening hours of the 'Maison du Transbordeur' in 2023:
Open everyday from the 1st of April to the 5th of November.
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April: 9.30 - 12.30 and 14.00 - 18.00
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May and June: 9.30 - 12.30 and 14.00 - 18.30
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July and August: 9.30 - 19.00
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September: 9.30 - 12.30 and 14.00 - 18.30
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October until November 5th: 9.30 - 12.30 and 14.00 - 17.30
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From November 6th to April 2024: annual closure
Maison du Transbordeur
rue de Martrou
17620 ECHILLAIS
Phone: +33 (0)5 16 84 37 28
Access on Rochefort's bank:
Rue Jacques Demy
17300 ROCHEFORT
Access
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This bridge developed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin and dating from 1900 provided a means of crossing from one bank to the other, without hindering shipping traffic. A gondola, suspended from a trolley running on rails, travels back and forth between Echillais and Rochefort. As well as the cyclists and foot passengers that use it today, it used to allow cars, carts and horses on board.
The Transporter Bridge of Rochefort is the last bridge of this type in France.
On 4 February at noon, the Transporter Bridge ceased to operate.
A Vertical-lift Bridge replaced it to cross the Charente river. A hidden counterweight system allowed the deck of the bridge to be raised between the concrete piers, like an enormous elevator, enabling boats to pass. The Viaduc de l'estuaire was inaugurated in 1991 to replace the vertical-lift bridge. It provided a constant thoroughfare for road vehicles, 30 metres above the River Charente.
The world of Transporter Bridges
Of the twenty or so transporter bridges that were built around the world, only eight remain today:
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The Bizkaia Bridge, the world's first transporter bridge, near Bilbao (Spain),
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The Martrou Transporter Bridge at Rochefort and Echillais (France),
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The Osten-Hemmoor and Rendsburg transporter bridges (Germany),
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The three British transporter bridges in Middlesbrough, Newport and Warrington (United Kingdom),
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The Transporter Bridge of La Boca in Buenos Aires (Argentina).
Having come together to form an association, the authorities that manage these Transporter Bridges have made a joint application to UNESCO to be listed as a World Heritage series.
