Published Resources Details

Conference Paper

Author
Lindsay, Merv
Title
Sarrans Hydro Electric Dam, France - is heritage destroyed or locked in a time capsule?
In
19th Australasian engineering heritage conference: putting water to work: steam power, river navigation and water supply
Editors
Engineers Australia and Engineering Heritage Australia
Imprint
Engineers Australia, Barton, Australian Capital Territory, 2017, pp. 258-262
ISBN/ISSN
9781922107923
Url
https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.384744981546034
Abstract

The Sarrans Dam was constructed from 1929 and completed in 1932, and submerged 1000 hectares of the Truyere River valley in South West France. At the time of construction, it was the largest dam in Europe. In 2014 important maintenance/upgrade work on the dam wall was begun, requiring the dam to be emptied for the first time since 1979. The cost of this work was 25 million Euros. In 2015 Merv Lindsay visited the site on four occasions while the dam was empty.

This paper is largely based on observations of the exposed valley, attempts to challenge conventional thinking about the consequences of flooding to construct large dams. What was revealed when the valley was exposed after 90 years, was a time capsule of life at the time of flooding, including a preserved heritage listed bridge, roads, houses, buildings and other remnants of the era. As well as revealing the built environment, it was remarkable to observe the emerging restoration of upper reaches of the Truyere River and the emergence of new vegetation. Whilst this phenomenon was only temporary while the dam was emptied, it gave insight into what is possible if any dam is eventually abandoned.

This paper supports the primary conference theme of water related infrastructure and its interface with preservation of heritage.

Related Published resources

isPartOf

  • 19th Australasian engineering heritage conference: putting water to work: steam power, river navigation and water supply edited by Engineers Australia and Engineering Heritage Australia (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Engineers Australia, 2017), 536 pp. Details

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