text: cubzac - les - ponts cubzac - les - ponts , also referred to as cubzac , is a commune of the gironde department in aquitaine , a region in southwestern france . located 20 km southwest of bordeaux , it is a crossing point of the river dordogne . cubzac has three bridges , one designed by gustave eiffel . during the middle ages , cubzac served as a watchtower through the four sons of amon castle . different means of crossing the river in cubzac have historically been used , from pontoon bridges and horse - powered ferries to steel and concrete bridges . part of a vibrant wine region , cubzac has several wine castles , including the terrefort castle . it has developed its own sparkling wine , in what is now called the café de paris . the limestone quarries of cubzac supplied for the typical white constructions found in bordeaux and its region . cubzac has two monuments historiques ; the first is a painting in a church , the other is the ruins of the four sons of amon castle . geography cubzac is located about 20 km northeast of bordeaux , on the north riverbank of the dordogne . several transport networks converge in cubzac to cross the river . these include the a10 motorway , the n10 trunk road and the bordeaux - nantes railroad . the lgv sud - ouest , a high - speed railway line running between tours and bordeaux , is in the process of being build . cubzac has an elevation ranging from 1 m to 42 m , the highest points being limestone cliffs dating from the oligocene epoch , some of which have been used as source of stone . in terms , cubzac is near the appellations d 'origine contrôlée ( aoc ) de bourg and , with its own wine castles . population climate cubzac 's climate is oceanic , part of the dfb group in the köppen climate classification . periodically , the river dordogne causes flooding . nowadays cubzac is protected by a dam , but is still vulnerable to flooding during high tides and strong winds . flooding occurred last in the 1999 martin and 2010 storms . the 1999 storm destroyed many trees from the terrefort castle park . in 1708 , a temperature extremum of -15 ° c caused the river and vineyards to freeze . administration administratively , cubzac - les - ponts is a commune part of the aquitaine region , the gironde département , the arrondissement of and the saint - andré - de - cubzac canton . the current mayor of cubzac is alain . as of 2010 , he has six assistants and thirteen advisors . economy in 2007 , 890 inhabitants were professionally active , the unemployment rate for the population between 15 and 64 was 6 , 7 % for men and 10 , 0 % for women , and the average net taxable income was € 21 593 . of the 310 jobs available in cubzac , only 34 , 9 % were given to its inhabitants . on january 1 , 2010 there were no hotels and no camping sites in cubzac . agriculture in cubzac is mostly dedicated to vine , corn and hay . in 2000 , 244 ha of cubzac 's land was farmland , representing 25 % of the total 987 ha . history the first traces of settlements in cubzac date back to the magdalenian epoch . those were discovered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries , with scrapers , chisels , nuclei , and harpoons found . cut and polished axes , arrowheads , scrapers , awls and flint strikers , and a few fragments of pottery from the neolithic epoch are plentiful in cubzac , especially on the mound of the " four sons of amon " . a very large bronze deposit for making weapons was found from the time of the bronze and iron ages . the town was mentioned in the roman epoch as a surveillance post . already , crossing the river dordogne was done at cubzac . the town has been reconverted through the centuries . the territory was occupied from the 6th century bc by a tribe . the village was occupied in 1250 by simon de montfort , 6th earl of leicester . the centre of cubzac is built on a small hill that dominates the dordogne valley . the village has developed from the domain of , a wealthy landowner of the gallo - roman era , from which the name cubzac derives . ancient crossing methods the first ferries crossing the dordogne were flat - bottomed boats driven by oars or keelboats driven by a sail . the passage was very risky and accidents occurred , especially during high tides and storms . from 1754 , a cable ferry crossed the 550 m wide river . the cable lay above the waters and stretched obliquely to the current . in 1821 , the cable ferry was replaced by a two - part ferry powered by a carousel of twelve horses . the horses set in motion gears which in turn powered a large paddle wheel . in good weather , the crossing time was improved to 30 – 45 minutes , but in bad weather the trip remained uncertain . the decision to establish a bridge in cubzac is taken by napoleon bonaparte on 30 january 1812 and february 3 , 1813 . the bridge was originally to be completed in 1820 . however , cubzac 's first bridge was a suspension bridge for which construction works started in 1834 , under louis - philippe i. works lasted four years , and public inauguration occurred on august 17 , 1839 by the duc and duchesse of orleans . the bridge had cost an estimated 3 million gold francs , was 545 m long and had 5 bays . shortly after its construction , the pillars sank about one metre . during its 30 years of existence , it withstood storms despite the large amplitude oscillations caused . however , on march 2 , 1869 a large storm , causing oscillations of more than two metres , partially destroyed the bridge and rendered it useless . ancient methods to cross the dordogne where reinstated . at first , barges and steamboats were used . then , starting from october 1870 , a large steam tub was used , measuring 21 m by 13 m . to cover the expensive construction costs , a toll was levied for the first 27 years . current bridges eiffel bridge when the suspension bridge fell in 1869 , the idea of a new bridge was discussed at length . the initial project dates from 1875 , which proposed that the new bridge had accompanying rail tracks , and that it be built on the remaining foundations of the suspension bridge , using scaffolding . actually , given the height of the bridge and the river 's depth and current , scaffolding is almost technically impossible to implement . in the final project from 1878 , a jetting alternative was offered , despite very few companies mastering the technique at the time . the problem of fitting rail tracks , which was later abandoned , delayed the project . in 1873 , masonry works had started on the right bank . in 1879 , gustave eiffel , who had waited more than ten years for a positive response to his project , took in hand the large undertaking in cubzac , which finished in 1883 . the cubzac bridge is the most important roadwork by the eiffel company . it necessitated tonnes of metal , measures 552 m , and is divided in eight bays . the parapet consists of iron braces rather than solid walls , alleviating the structure . the company manufacturing the iron pieces later provided those used for the eiffel tower . as the allies landed in normandy , the german troupes , in their escape , partially destroyed the eiffel bridge using explosives . starting from august 21 , 1944 , all traffic on the bridge was restricted for the retirement of the german troupes . on 28 august 1944 , as the last soldiers passed , german engineers arrived in bicycles and fitted explosives which detonated at 9 : 20pm . three of the eight bays had fallen in the waters and the north abutment was seriously damaged . the delicate repair works where operated by the company eiffel with the help of the générale industrielle du sud - ouest , which coincidentally was directed by jacques eiffel , the grand son of gustave eiffel . for this reason , the bridge is sometimes called " the twice eiffel bridge " . the bridge is now part of the route nationale 10 which runs between and paris . both viaducts to the bridge date from 1839 and each measures approximately 250 m . over time , large settlements occurred , causing serious disturbances in the masonry and requiring the replacement of many vaults in 1880 , 1903 and 1934 . railway bridge the rail bridge was constructed by lebrun , and pile by the et pillet . its style resembles that of the adjacent eiffel bridge . it was commissioned by the chemins de fer de l 'état for the chartres - bordeaux line , and the construction lasted from 1884 to 1885 . inaugurated in 1886 , it is 561 , 60 m long above the dordogne are divided in eight bays . the rails are 21 . 80 m above the highest waters . the bridge is made of iron pillars fitted in braces . despite being younger than the eiffel bridge , the construction necessitated more funds and effort . the constructions hidden under water and earth make up the bulk of the value and volume of materials used . foundations only total to 57 , 800 cubic meters . even though less damaged than the eiffel bridge , it also sustained damage from german bombing on the same day . the reconstruction works ended june 15 , 1946 , taking less than two years to complete . motorway bridge in 1957 it was decided to study the implementation of a bridge to relieve the old eiffel bridge which allowed only one lane per direction , and cutback on traffic jams . from 1957 to 1963 various solutions where studies . in 1971 the construction works were tendered and given to the company campenon - bernard - europe . the works should have lasted only two years but where completed in 1974 . the new motorway bridge made of reinforced concrete , having relieved the traffic jams , was celebrated on radio , and by the song " ne pas en , ne pas ! " ( do not , do not go on holiday ! ) by pierre perret . in 2000 , the bridge was doubled to lanes . sights saint - julien church the saint - julien church is named after julian the hospitaller , patron of cubzac . julian is a legendary saint destined to kill his parents , and informed about his destiny by a stag . he fled to escape his fate , but the prophecy realized nonetheless , and he became a hermit , helping people cross a river . one day , the christ arrived to announce his pardon . from the middle ages to the french revolution , the town would have been called saint - julien - de - cubzac . the church is made of limestone and underwent important modifications in the 19th century , when in particular the steeple was rebuilt . the façade , however , still contains roman remains . the church holds an 18th - century painting of the baptism of christ , classified monument historique in 1913 . the church is surrounded by a cemetery which was excavated in august 1978 by archaeologists under the direction of richard boudet . coins dating from the time of francis i , henry iii , henry iv , louis xiii , napoleon iii and victor emmanuel were uncovered . a gold merovingian signet ring bearing the christian symbol was also discovered under many potsherds . four sons of amon castle at cubzac , on the high rocky shoreline overlooking the dordogne , and in the town centre , are the ruins of the castle " des quatre fils aymon " within ordinary houses . the entrance of the fortress is flanked by the remains of two towers . these few stones are however extraordinarily rich in history and legend . first off , the castle did not belong to the four sons of aymon who lived , perhaps , the time of charlemagne . it was built and rebuilt in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries . it was the seat of the lordship of . in 1206 , john lackland , the king of england and youngest son of eleanor of aquitaine , took revenge of the king of france philippe auguste , who accused him of treason and deprived him of his fiefs , by engaging in miscellaneous abuses . he stormed the castle of cubzac , and destroyed it . it is a brief english victory . the lordship returns to the french , and is attributed to simon de montfort , 6th earl of leicester , son of the terrible and bloody winner of the albigensian crusade . he built a new castle deemed impregnable , on behalf of the king of england , with double walls , and yet it is the one for which ruins remain . he was sacked by the gascon barons revolted against simon de montfort . half sacked , it served as a stately home , until moving to the lordship . the legions days that the two mediaeval castles have erected on the site of a building dating from the carolingian period , which nothing remains . the four sons of amon castle was registered as a historic monument in 1938 . terrefort - quancard castle positioned atop a hill dominating cubzac - les - ponts and saint - andré - de - cubzac , the terrefort - quancard castle is a wine property and family house . the main building is a limestone rectangular body of living area , covered with slate for the roof . the surrounding grape wines , most of which are cabernet sauvignon and merlot , span approximately 70 hectares of land . various vestiges remain , including a wash for linen and horses , and a wind - will for flour . during its history spanning seven centuries , the castle was owned by a succession of seven families . one of the owners , the count of , peer of france , was a catalyst to the construction of the eiffel bridge . in march 1891 , the quancard brothers jean and eugène bought the property for 110 000 francs , and the quancard family remains the last owners . the purchase came after a severe phylloxera outbreak , causing the death of over half of french vineyards , devalued the property . the land area was covered mostly with rock until the quancard brothers used explosives to remove it , and large amounts of clay - limestone soil , known to be beneficial for the wine produce , was brought to replace it . the quancard family has played a role in the life and history of cubzac - les - ponts . firstly , jean quancard was elected by absolute majority as mayor of cubzac on may 15 , 1892 and remained in office for 27 years . also , a fair , organised annually from 1936 to 1939 for its success , supported restoration work for the saint - julien steeple and provided financial help to the priest . finally , the owners periodically host events , including expositions , family weddings and family reunions . the last family reunion , from may 2006 , saw approximately 200 members of the quancard family . wine caves during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries , the mound of cubzac was slashed all around to provide stone for bordeaux 's construction and the ballast of some river banks , creating deep excavations in the limestone . in 1898 , andré cousteau , uncle of the researcher and ecologist jacques cousteau , started using the caves to make a sparkling wine based on traditional champagne - making techniques . the wine , treated in a closed tank , bottled , and kept neck down many months at constant temperature , became bubbly and had its impurities accumulate near the cap . once this deposit was removed , the bottles were resealed by force , and the corks muzzled . in 1920 , the cousteau property was sold to the société anonyme gay - mousse . in 1966 , the caves where entrusted to monsieur who , one year later , created the café de paris . books bardeau , claude ( 1988 ) . cubzac ... l . bordeaux , france : self - published . bardeau , gérard ; bardeau , claude ( 1980 ) . saint - andré - de - cubzac notre self - published . cassagne , jean - marie ; korsak , mariola ( 2001 ) . des noms de et villages . jean - michel p . 92 . isbn 978 - 2 - - 40 - 5 . carmona , michel ( 2002 ) . eiffel . pp. 158 – 168 . isbn 978 - 2 - 213 - - 1 . , michel . gironde terre : le cadre . pp. 2 – 12 . , pascal ( 2009 ) . cubzac et le château des quatre fils aymon . indes . quancard , ( 2009 ) . terrefort en self - 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