The first nets from the S-able company have just been installed this Tuesday, July 2, in front of the seafront on the west coast of the town of Vias. It is the end of a long-awaited process to retain sand, rebuild beaches that are disappearing and combat erosion.
Finally, the closest residents of the west coast to Vias will probably say. Yes, finally, the nets of the S-able company were laid this Tuesday morning, July 2, a few meters deep. The barge carrying 270 m of this device left Grau-d’Agde to distribute its precious cargo in front of the Dunes campsite and between the Chemin de la Traîne and the Roucan Plage campsite.
With this system, already tested in the Bay of Somme, elected officials and residents expect a lot in terms of beach reconstruction. And this time, it will not be tons of sand moved by human hands that will enrich the beach, but the sea that will work on the reconstruction. It should be remembered that the State, the Region, and the Béziers Méditerranée Agglo have invested millions of euros on the west side in Vias for the reconstruction of the dune cordon that returned to the sea during the first storm a few months after the end of the first phase of the work.
A company created by a former fisherman
The S-Able company was created by a former fisherman. And it is a new challenge that is being set up in Vias to save the coastline from maritime erosion. The net system created by Dominique Michon is capable of trapping sand. It has already proven itself on the Opal Coast in the English Channel. In Vias, the local authorities had been promising to install them for four years. It has been done.
Trapping the sand
This barrier of nets traps the sand in the bag and the surf. It raises the bottom and this allows the solid materials to be blocked and to reach the beach. When the expected level is there, it is even possible to move the barrier. Little by little, it is an underwater dune that is created. It creeps towards the beach and prevents the sand from escaping towards the open sea.
Ultimately, 700 meters of nets will be placed in front of the west coast with the undisguised hope of seeing beaches worthy of the name rebuilt to welcome tourists. The idea of placing this anti-erosion barrier in Vias was born in 2020. It took four years of fierce battles to see it arrive.
