What a disappointment this Monday morning for the regulars at the Camélat bar. From 8:30 a.m., it was closed to traffic, forcing its users to return to their old habits of crossing Agen to reach the left bank.
The closure is not expected to last. “We even hope to reopen 24 hours in advance,” wishes Denis Audouard, project manager for major infrastructure at the Agen conurbation. The structure remains accessible to traffic from nightfall to daybreak.
This closure is completely regulatory. It will determine the “zero point” of the state of the structures designed in this segment. The bridges over the Garonne and the Canal, but also all the structures over which Camélat passes: the bridges of rue Sacha-Guitry and chemin Franquet at Passage-d'Agen, invisible from the road, that of the path du Franchinet, in Brax…
No fragility detected
“We mainly look at the waterproofing of the structure, the evacuation of water to avoid the slightest corrosion. » Among the potentially disruptive elements are tree leaves, which can block these drains. “We have to think about it, but apart from that, no fragility is detected. » Such a structure undergoes inspections every six to nine years.
In pictures: the Camélat bridge from all angles, since 2022
On February 16, 2021, the Agglomeration of Agen gave a press conference to present the Camélat bar project. The symbolic laying of the first stone took place a year and a half later, on July 21, 2022. Twenty-two months of construction were therefore necessary, until the inauguration of the work, on May 4 . Return to photos of the different stages
These initial detailed inspections, as they are called, could not be carried out before the opening of the bar in May. “Very specialized design offices are in charge of this and their schedule was constrained,” underlines the project manager. None were available until summer. “We would therefore have had a brand new bar, ready, but empty…” Hence this choice of closure today.
It was also technically impossible to set up alternating traffic, which would have further disrupted the proper functioning of the Brax and Colayrac roundabouts. That said, “we have done our best to keep it open during morning and evening rush hours.”
