The Great Loop of Saint-Dizier

An 8 km circuit in the city center along the Marne and the Canal: this is the Grande Boucle de Saint-Dizier, a new active sports and design facility, outside the walls and at the height of the city, which combines sport and nature, to be discovered from June 28.

Play sports along the water

Integrating the Reveal Saint-Dizier program, the Grande Boucle de Saint-Dizier is an active outdoor urban sports facility, free and accessible to all thanks to its flat course crisscrossing the banks of the Marne and the Canal forming a loop around from the city.

This large infrastructure aims to encourage physical activity, to make people want to walk, run, cycle and even fish and swim with access to water.

The start of this Grande Boucle, called km 0, will be located near the pumptrack in the heart of the Deauville park and marked by a totem showing the map of the loop offering various sporting activities. All along the route, mini-totems will indicate the number of kilometers covered, and markers of the places and heritage to discover in the surrounding area. When crossing roads or bridges, markings on the ground will guide passers-by to the rest of the route.

Challenge Stations

Throughout the loop, walkers and athletes will be able to face challenge stations, the first of which at km 0 will be an obstacle course in Deauville Park. Over 100 meters, 10 obstacles will put your muscles to the test: net, rope, inclined wall… all with the possibility of timing yourself. Other challenge stations will be added to the Grande Boucle de Saint-Dizier in the years to come.

Easy access to water

Water is the central element of this route: facilitating access to it was therefore essential. To punctuate the loop, stops will be created to reconnect with the water in the form of two “feet in the water” seats, two lookouts, three access points for unsupervised swimming and two fishing spots. Each person present in Saint-Dizier will thus have access to water in less than 10 minutes on foot.

And because water played a major part in the industrialization of the city, allowing the transport of raw materials on the Marne and the development of the inland waterway activity on the Canal, a memorial installation will tell the story, on panels and through old photos, the social, cultural and economic role of water at different times.

The adjustments made

• 1 km 0 with obstacle course
• 9 developments towards the water
• 80 directional beacons installed
• 60 trees planted on the Robespierre and Camille Desmoulins quays
• 11 memorial panels to discover
• 600 linear meters of climbing plants developed

The Grande Boucle de Saint-Dizier is a sports facility designed for the size of the city, inexpensive, easy to maintain and above all accessible to all.

Quentin Brière | Mayor of Saint-Dizier