Pont de Sully

The Pont de Sully is actually two bridges that span the eastern tip of Île Saint-Louis.

The current spans replaced two bridges from the 1830’s; the Passerelle Damiette and the suspension bridge Passerelle de Constantine. The former linked the island to the Right Bank via a connection on l’Île Louviers (Île Louviers was incorporated into the right bank in 1843.) , and the latter connected the island directly to the Left Bank. The Passerelle Damiette was destroyed during the revolution of 1848 and the Passerelle de Constantine collapsed due to the corrosion of its cables in 1872.

The current bridges, constructed of cast iron and masonry, were constructed between 1874 and 1876 and were part of Haussmann’s revision of the city during the Second Empire.

Both spans are named for Maximilien de Bèthune, duke de Sully (b.1560-d.1641), and they were designed by the engineers Paul Vaudrey and Gustave Brosselin.

The smaller of the two spans known as “Petit Bras” links the right bank to the island at the intersection of Boulevard Henry IV and the quai des Célestins and quai Henry IV, and the larger span of the bridge known as “Grand Bras” (pictured above) continues Boulevard Henry IV linking the island at its southern shore terminating at the intersection of quai de la Tournelle and quai Saint-Bernard of the left bank of the Seine.