Whether they are farmers or entrepreneurs, users of the Vialette ford show their fed up at seeing the tool damaged again by a flood.
The Department did not even have time to inaugurate the end of the restoration work… Closed since the great flood last March, the Vialette ford, making the link between Villeneuve-d'Allier and Saint -Ilpize, had just been completely repaired when a new climb of the Allier appeared, on October 17. And once again, damage is to be deplored.
Thursday, October 31, a quick glance showed that the metal deck on the Saint-Ilpize side had moved several centimeters. A small part of the edge of the road leading to the ford was damaged while signposts were torn off. Still on the Saint-Ilpize side, a large pile of branches is piled up on the metal deck, obstructing the track.
And, more impressive, an ice jam made up of trunks and a torn electric pole obstructs several of the concrete frames allowing the river to flow. Witnesses present at the rising waters explained that they had seen the electricity pole coming: “It was a big blow.”
These bridges and footbridges which disappeared after the floods in Haute-Loire
The branches blocking the flow have been there since the flood…
On the Villeneuve-d'Allier side, the damage is even more impressive. The waves of the river swollen by the Cévennes episode completely destroyed the road providing access to the ford, leaving alone the concrete frame which had been installed to allow the river to expand a little more… The imposing rocks along the road, although they resisted for the most part, were sometimes displaced by the river.Villeneuve-d'Allier – Saint-Ilpize. The Vialette ford, spanning the Allier, damaged again after the flood of October 17.
Faced with this spectacle, users of the ford, which was created for vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes prohibited on the Saint-Ilpize bridge, are struggling to contain their annoyance. Éric Roche and Gilles Chicoutel, farmers, as well as David Lancier, mason based in Villeneuve-d'Allier, regret a lack of action from the Department's services. Present at the rising waters, they explain:
During a flood, there is no one to remove the trees that gradually stick to the ford… As for what happens after the flood?? The branches blocking the flow of the river have been there since October 17… The water rose last weekend and pushed on the jam. And it can happen again… Until it breaks??
“We would like them to come and maintain the ford. Let them show that they are doing something. If it remains abandoned like that, they will still have to put a large sum into the work… With a mini-excavator and two employees, in one day all the waste is removed.
For Michel Brun, vice-president of the Department in charge of engineering structures and major road works, who deplores this new damage, things are not so simple: “We have to wait for the water to drop to go and see what has happened. moved.”
We can't do anything either. We need to bring in frogmen to take stock of the damage and find out if we can go to the ford to clean the branches. There is no question of taking risks on a potentially weakened structure.
While waiting for this new inventory and possible new work, users are once again looking gloomy. “We are not asking for this ford to be in good condition for going for a walk. It's frustrating to have it in front of us and for it to be unusable. This ford serves us every day,” remarks Éric Roche. On site this Thursday, October 31, he continues, alongside Gilles Chicoutel: “When the ford is working, go pick up the cattle truck in Villeneuve, to go to Saint-Ilpize, it takes me 15 to 20 minutes round trip. Without it, I have to go through Lavoûte-Chilhac or Vieille-Brioude. The round trip takes me 2 hours.
After the major floods in Haute-Loire, tons of wood to be evacuated to the Lavalette dam
A ford that has become essential
Gilles Chicoutel continues: “And when you are on the road, you do not work in the fields. We have cows on each side of the Allier. We can take the Saint-Ilpize bridge with a small machine to bring in water. “water for the animals, that's all when you have to go get them urgently…”From left to right: Gilles Chicoutel, Eric Roche and David Lancier.
David Lancier makes “90% of his turnover” in Villeneuve-d’Allier and Saint-Ilpize. “To deliver a concrete top, you have to go all the way around. And for the delivery people, whether for my company or the food sellers for the farmers, with the work in progress in Brioude and Vieille-Brioude, the delivery people are lost. Sometimes we even have to go look for them in Brioude.
The three men point to other cases, such as snow removal or trash collection, made complicated by this absence of a ford. Without forgetting the emergency issue.
The fire station is in Villeneuve-d'Allier. If a fire breaks out in Saint-Ilpize, the truck must make a 20 km detour… It must be Paulhaguet who intervenes.
Mayor of Saint-Ilpize, Martine Defay understands the frustration of the users of the ford. But she also tempers: “It's a big problem nevertheless due to the circumstances. The Department had done everything possible to repair the damage from the previous flood. And at the moment, it must have a lot of things to do with all the flood damage…”
Pierre Hébrard
