Sone comes out was almost sealed from its construction, at the beginning of the 20the century. The inevitable erosion of the coastline, particularly marked along the sandy Côte Sauvage, at La Tremblade, has led the subdivision of Lighthouses and Beacons of La Rochelle to take a radical decision: the current Coubre lighthouse will be deconstructed, reveals the weekly “Le Littoral”.
When it was commissioned in 1905, the current lighthouse was located 1.8 km from the shore, today only 130 meters away. The 64-meter concrete tower then replaced a previous lighthouse, the fourth since 1830, a stone tower completed in 1895, but already condemned less than ten years later. The tower also collapsed in 1907.
At the beginning of January 2018, storms Carmen and Eleanor dug up the foundations of the stone lighthouse built in 1895, but which collapsed in 1907.
Archives Ronan Chérel
Cordoba on sole lookout
The State, owner of the lighthouse, wants to avoid collapse and is therefore anticipating its demolition. Without setting a time limit, but a “critical” threshold, according to Lighthouses and Beacons: when the sea is 65 meters from the lighthouse, action will have to be taken. More than the rise in water, 3 to 5 meters per year, the Lighthouses and Beacons fear underground infiltrations digging cavities and weakening the basement supporting the building. The dune, too, has moved 15 meters closer to the concrete tower and poses a threat.
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The Coubre lighthouse complements that of Cordouan to signal to ships the entrance to the Gironde estuary. By increasing the power of the light signal from the Cordouan lighthouse, the Lighthouses and Beacons believe they can dispense with a new signaling device at the Pointe de la Coubre. Buoys could also replace the secondary light of the lighthouse signaling the Mauvaise zone.
The municipality of La Tremblade, manager of the site under the regime of a temporary occupation authorization (AOT) still running until 2030, already knows that it will soon have to do without this tourist attraction. Annually, some 65,000 visitors climb the 300 steps.
In 1948, already
Already in 1948, the future of the La Coubre lighthouse was making headlines: “The La Coubre lighthouse will disappear”. In January 1948, a tidal wave following a strong gale combined with a high tidal coefficient had swallowed the last dunes which separated the ocean from the lighthouse, and the latter found itself completely surrounded by the water. Without protection, the tower and the neighboring semaphore, decommissioned in 1999 and demolished in 2020, were surrounded again in September 1948. The Bridges and Roads department, at the time, even announced the start of construction in 1949 of a new lighthouse, project finally abandoned, the situation stabilizing.
The erosion of the coastline has already led, in Pays Royannais, the Royan Atlantique agglomeration community to redesign a section of the Vélodyssée cycle path at the Grande Côte, in Saint-Palais-sur-Mer. La Cara will soon do the same along the Wild Coast, at Embellie, where the sea comes within 20 meters of the cycle path and even invades the car park with a high tidal coefficient in winter.
