Concorde, Pont de la

▪ bridge, Paris, France

      (French: “Bridge of Concord”), stone-arch bridge crossing the Seine River in Paris at the Place de la Concorde. The masterpiece of Jean-Rodolphe Perronet (Perronet, Jean), conceived in 1772, the bridge was not begun until 1787 because conservative officials found the design too daring. Perronet personally supervised construction despite his advanced age; he was 82 when the work was completed in 1791. The outbreak of the French Revolution scarcely affected progress; Perronet used the demolished Bastille as a source for masonry. The name of the bridge has been changed from Louis XV to Révolution to Concorde.

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