The Canal de Briare, connecting the Loire with the river Loing was constructed in 1642 under King Henry IV. The canal du Loing, connecting the Seine with the Loire went into service in 1723. As navigation the Loire river was dangerous the canal lateral a la Loire was constructed. The canal lead originally about 10km upstream of Briare into the Loire and after crossing the Loire connected with the Canal de Briare. As the river crossing was quite dangerous due to frequently changing water levels it was decided to construct a canal bridge over the Loire river.

The engineering offices of the G. Eiffel, known for its tower in Paris, was selected to build the foundations and pilings of the bridge. The large metal superstructure was a single piece of iron and steel. The bridge is 662m (1980feet) long and 6.2m wide and holds 13,680 metric tons of water. It is the longest metal canal bridge in Europe.

Question for the physics and math enthusiasts among the readers: When AvantiB with its 65 tons crosses the bridge, how much more has the foundation to carry?