This natural bridge in France floods twice every single day

If you thought your commute home on the 101 or I95 was frustrating (and dangerous!), what do you think the residents of the island of Noirmoutier in France think of the natural passageway that connects their home to the mainland? It floods twice a day. Le Passage de Gois ou Gôa is 2.58 miles long causeway and is located on the Atlantic coast in the Bay of Bourgneuf, in the department of Vendée. The natural bridge floods every day at high tide and is the only known road in the world to do so.

It’s a one way road – you can only get from the mainland to the island on it – and is only passable at low tide and then for 1.5 hours before and after low tide. Because it spends so much time underwater, the passage is usually slippery and often has dregs of seaweed stretched across its length.

There are timetables and warning signs at each end of the bridge. Cars are prohibited from driving across it during high tide though many have not adhered to the rules and been lost under the sea. There are rescue towers stationed intermittently between the mainland and island for those caught in the tide. They can climb the towers to wait out the water.

Hundreds of years ago, the only way to access Noirmoutier island was by boat. But over the years, silt began piling up that allowed people and animals to cross on foot. The name “Gois” actually comes from the word goiser which means “to walk while wetting ones shoes.” Since the natural accumulation of the silt passageway, different degrees of stabilization work has been done to make it more passable. In 1840, service by car or horseback was established. Later, a more permanent cobblestone road was laid down and in 1971, a real bridge was constructed across the water that allows cars to get between the mainland and island easily at any time of day.

The Passage du Gois has been used twice for the Tour de France bike race. In 1999, the road was a part of Stage 2 of the Tour de France; halfway through, a biker fell and the crash created a six minute split in the peloton which completely changed the outcome of the race.

The passage was used again in 2011 as the starting point of the first race stage. The passage is also used every year for a foot race – the Foulées du Gois – and actually starts at the onset of high tide.

It’s marked as a national monument of France and attracts visitors from all over, year round, to watch the entire miles long road get swallowed up by the sea. They come to collect sea shells and play in the water during low tide as well.

sources: Dangerous Roads, Amusing Planet

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