Argentière-la-Bessée (The) - Forced pipe called siphon de l'Argentière
- department: Hautes-Alpes
- Municipality: L'Argentière-la-Bessée
- naming: Forced pipe known as the Argentiere siphon
- Author: Gilbert PLANCHE (Engineer)
- date: 1909-1922
- protection: unprotected building
- label patrimoine XXe: Commission régionale du patrimoine et des sites (CRPS) of 28 November 2000
At the end of the 19th century, under the impetus of the public works contractor Gilbert Planche, the first major projects were born to transform the energy produced by the capture and forced water pipes into electricity applied to the metallurgical industry.
Originally from the Maurienne valley, the Planche family was involved in digging the first alpine railway tunnels and building the first hydroelectric dams. It is said that it "had the art to gather land and riparian rights to resell them to the aluminum manufacturers with the implicit or explicit obligation for the latter to choose them for the resulting yards" (in the general history of electricity in France).
This was the case on the site of the Argentière where Gilbert Planche acquired in 1906 the communes of Argentière, Vallouise, les Vigneaux and Saint-Martin de Queyrières, all the rights on the rivers of Gyr, Onde and Durance, and the authorization to occupy the communal lands in Bessée in order to establish a hydroelectric plant.
It was to supply the electrometallurgical and chemical industry, whose plant, built for the French electrometallurgical company (SEMF), inaugurated on 4 December 1909, will allow the production of aluminium previously imported from Germany at a lower cost.
The forced pipe
The siphon was made to power the Bessée power plant. The water came from the Durance on the left bank of Prelles, which was driven over 6500 m, including 1500 m in the gallery. On the other hand from Vallouise where it was captured at the confluence of the Gyr and the Onde and brought over a length of 8000 m including 7500 in gallery. The water coming from Vallouise being on the right bank, it was necessary to make it cross the gorge through this improperly called siphon pipe since it is always in pressure.
A monumental wooden scaffolding, of 300 m3, was erected to set up the structure. This one extends for 60 m, 110 m from the bottom of the throat. The diameter of the pipe is 2.65 m.
After the siphon a common tunnel of 1500 m located under the Pertuis Rostan unites the two brought and continues with four riveted forced pipes, today replaced by only two pipes, which descend the loaded water on 174 m of height, to power the plant’s turbines after again crossing the Durance by a much less impressive siphon.
- Editor: Martine Audibert, drac paca crmh, 2005
- Sources:
- Jacquignon Louis, History of electricity in the Hautes-Alpes, from the origins to the nationalization of 1946, Paris, Association pour l'histoire de l'électricité en France, Jouve, 2000
- General history of electricity in France, Collectif, Paris, Editions Fayard and Association pour l'histoire de l'électricité en France, Jouve, 1991
- Bonnet Louis, Les barrages du soleil, Breil-sur-Roya, Edition du Cabri, 1993
- and with the collaboration of the Argentière-la-Bessée CCSTI
Partager la page
1 résultat
Display :