La Veraye Walkway and Footbridge

The walkway along the Veraye, composed of a corniche and a footbridge, has significant degradation. The existing corniche was braced several times to prevent its collapse. The municipalities of Montreux and Veytaux took the opportunity to rebuild the footbridge and the corniche while the SBB railway worked on the Veraye aqueduct.

The project involved building a corniche with several stairs on the existing wall that runs from Lake Geneva to the Veraye aqueduct. The proposed concept was a cantilevered slab stabilized by a counterweight.

In addition, it was necessary to add a footbridge for pedestrians to cross over the Veraye. The concept developed was a very thin slab reinforced by two prestressed ribs that also integrate several conduits. The corniche and the footbridge, including their barrier, were built in a similar manner to create a coherent unit. The walkway surfaces were made of exposed floated concrete with added quartz sand, which ensures both a more watertight surface and good grip on the steep slopes of the corniche.

The zone upstream of the footbridge is at risk of flooding if the Veraye’s water levels are high. To prevent any overflow, the footbridge was built to oppose the bed load, and a full concrete parapet was built at the critical angle to ensure the function of the cofferdam.

Since the corniche and the new footbridge were rebuilt higher, it was necessary to raise the neighboring wall. The shape of the old wall with its cope was preserved to maintain the same look after the work as before.