The 433 m long Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas is a lift bridge over the Garonne with great bike paths open since 2012. It is named after Jacques Chaban-Delmas, the former Prime Minister of France and former Mayor of Bordeaux. Located about 3 km from the city center between the Pont de pierre in the old town and the Pont d’Aquitaine motorway the bridge connects the Bacalan and Bastide districts. It was called Pont Bacalan-Bastide during the construction period and is sometimes still called that today. It is the fifth crossing of the Garonne in Bordeaux.
To allow cruise ships to pass through to the old town of Bordeaux, it was designed as a lift bridge with a clearance height of 53m, making it one of the largest lift bridges in the world. On both sides, a 4.80 m wide footpath and bike path, separated from the roadways, leads past the towers of the bridge. The bridge is therefore 34 m wide on the bank, but 45.3 m wide in the middle part. The deck of the bridge is slightly curved upwards in the longitudinal direction in order to achieve the required clearance height of 13 m when closed. The sidewalks and cycle paths with their very low construction height have a significantly flatter curve, which makes them easier to use.