Slideshow: Paris ring road celebrates 50 years

From the end of the 1960s to the early 1970s, major works were undertaken in the French capital to streamline traffic. Central to the plan was the construction of the Paris ring road, the Boulevard Périphérique, inaugurated by then prime minister Pierre Messmer on 25 April, 1973.

Picture taken on 14 April 1974 of the exit of the Saint-Cloud tunnel, west of Paris. © AFP

Fifty years ago, on 25 April 1973, the largest construction site in France was completed with the inauguration of the Paris ring road.

This monumental work, which was under construction between 1956 and 1973, is part of the long history of Paris. The route follows the city fortifications of the mid-19th century.

The city walls were demolished, to be replaced by a belt of buildings and, later on, by the Boulevard Périphérique.

We take a look back at this colossal work in pictures.

1968

Picture taken on 4 August, 1968 in Paris of the construction site of the Boulevard Périphérique and the 503-meter-long metal viaduct which overlooks the tracks of the Gare de Lyon train station. © AFP/File

Picture taken on 16 April, 1968 of the Aval bridge on the southern Boulevard Périphérique, near Porte de Saint-Cloud and Issy les Moulineaux, on the first day of its commissioning. © AFP/File

View taken on 4 August, 1968 of the arches of the viaduct which will overlook the Batignolles cemetery in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. © AFP/File

1969

Workers on the construction site of the Boulevard Périphérique of Paris, on 31 December, 1969, behind the Auteuil racecourse. © AFP/File photo

Picture taken on 12 November, 1969 of the Porte de Bagnolet interchange, that will connect the Boulevard Périphérique (ring road) of Paris to the future Paris-Strasbourg motorway, near the construction site of the Periphérique. © AFP/File photo

1971

Picture taken on 25 October, 1971 of the northern part of the Porte d'Auteuil interchange, on the construction site of the Boulevard Périphérique of Paris. © AFP/File

View taken on 21 January, 1971 in Paris of the construction site of the Boulevard Périphérique in the west of Paris, which will pass under the future Parc des Princes stadium under construction, near the Porte de Saint-Cloud and the Bois de Boulogne © AFP/File photo

1973

Aerial view taken on 22 April, 1973 of the Porte Maillot interchange with the Bois de Boulogne and the entrance to Neuilly-sur-Seine on the right, a few days before its inauguration. © AFP/File

French Prime Minister Pierre Messmer, assisted by Nicole de Hauteclocque, President of the Council of Paris, during the official inauguration ceremony, on 25 April 1973, of the last three-kilometre section of the Paris ring road, between Porte Dauphine and Porte d'Asnières. © AFP/File