Regulars of the Labbé bookstore, rue Porte-Chartraine in Blois, will have noticed two water pumps installed in the middle of the section dedicated to comics in the third basement.
Said pumps evacuate “around 600 liters of water per hour”, explains manager Olivier Labbé. And to resume: “As soon as one pump stops, the other starts. »
But where does this water come from? Olivier Labbé claims to have obtained information from experts: “ The water comes from the abyss of Blois » located… rue du Gouffre. Of medieval construction, it was used to supply water to the ancient city.
“In 6 months, the annual quantity of water”
Located in the old center, this reservoir was fed by the groundwater and runoff water. The water was then distributed in the city’s fountains. With a depth of seven meters, the Chasm extends over several underground galleries.
“The overflow of water from the chasm flows under the city center, which is saturated with water,” analyzes Olivier Labbé. Unusually abundant water due to heavy rains in recent weeks. “At the end of Junenotes the bookseller, it had already fallen 650 mm, almost the annual amount. »
Olivier Labbé plans to undertake major work to install a permanent pump to “clip this tablecloth and it ends up 20 to 30 cm lower. But there is no question of completely emptying this pocket of water.”
The Labbé bookstore is not the only one to find itself with its feet in the water. Opposite, the cellars located under the Cartier jewelry store are flooded “since the end of March”.
When contacted, an Agglopolys network technician indicated that he had “requested a study
But according to him, this water comes from the Arrou, a small river, a tributary of the Loire, which formally takes its source from the Pinçonnière lake. The river then flows towards the city center of Blois: after the Arrou park, the stream is essentially canalized and buried about two meters deep until its waters join the Loire.
The technician suggests installing a system so that excess water is evacuated at the end of the Jacques-Gabriel bridge.
Does the water come from the chasm or the Arrou?
So, is this water coming from the abyss or from the Arrou? Contacted, Jérôme Boujot, elected in charge of the water cycle at Agglopolys, does not decide between the two hypotheses “which deserve to be dug. This is a problem that goes well beyond Agglopolys’s expertise. What is certain is that the water does come from the ground. » But the concern is not current: these tablecloths are only “the combination of the heavy rains of the last few days, the land is waterlogged”.
