The MILLAU VIADUCT is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the gorge valley of the River TARN near MILLAU in southern FRANCE. It is the tallest bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 343.0 metres above the base of the structure. In a Franco-British partnership, it was designed by the English architect SIR NORMAN FOSTER and French structural engineer DR MICHEL VIRLOGEUX, and as of May 2017 it is the twenty-second highest bridge deck in the world, being 270 metres between the road deck and the ground below.
   The MILLAU VIADUCT is part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from PARIS to BÉZIERS and MONTPELLIER. The cost of construction was approximately € 394 million. It was built over three years, formally inaugurated on 14 December 2004, and opened to traffic two days later on 16 December. The bridge has been consistently ranked as one of the great engineering achievements of all time, and received the 2006 Outstanding Structure Award from the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (i.s.).