Geneva: a new footbridge to travel along the Rhône

The major project to secure the Falaises trail has come to an end, after almost two years; walkers can once again take the right bank of the Rhône, between the Sous-Terre bridge and the Jonction viaduct.

This section, which runs for 800 meters, was threatened by landslides and rockfalls. The work made it possible to consolidate the retaining nets and replace the covered concrete gallery, near the SIG pumping station, with an open-air walkway, away from the direct edge of the cliff to reinforce the safety of the path. The modules of the old gallery, preserved and planted with vegetation, are used as receptacles for falling gravel.

Nicolas Betty, head of the Planning, Civil Engineering and Mobility Department of the City of Geneva, told Radio Lac that this project, which took place in two stages, was complicated because it was subject to supply and implementation constraints. , all interspersed with summer openings so that swimmers and walkers can enjoy the Rhône. Deforestation was carried out by rope access technicians and the evacuation of the largest trunks was done by helicopter.

Then, it was necessary to lay new nets, build the foundations of the footbridge, transport materials using barges and then assemble them on site, among other things. In May 2023, an incident disrupted these delicate operations: a construction machine slipped down a slope and immersed in the waters of the Rhône. The worker who was operating the machine was fortunately able to escape in time. “This led us to focus on security and led to some financial supplements,” explains Nicolas Betty.

The total bill for the work has also increased, from 2 to 5 million francs. Speaking on the radio, the manager notes that for such a project, “it is complicated to define in advance the exact scope of intervention. In particular, we later discovered that it was necessary to reinforce the cliff near the retaining wall.”

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Aurélie Toninato has been a journalist in the Geneva section since 2010 and a graduate of the Academy of Journalism and Media. After covering the field of Education, she is now mainly responsible for issues related to Health.More info

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