Isère: the reconstruction of La Bérarde “put on hold”

La Bérarde, a hamlet located in the commune of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans at the foot of the Ecrins massif, saw the numerous construction machines present since this summer return to the bottom of the valley at the start of the week. Like every winter, the hamlet becomes inaccessible because of the snow. Work will resume in the spring.

What was done

Since the disaster of June 21, several companies have been mobilized to bring La Bérarde back to life. Dozens of machines have worked since June to secure the site and clear it. Before winter, the priority was to recreate the river bed so that it would not overflow. “The construction site is finished for a few months. We have repatriated all the machines from La Bérarde, we have completed the safety projects. The last two mechanical excavators are working today in the Vénéon torrent so as not to have too much of damage in the spring. They will have left the valley this Tuesday evening. Providing security meant building rocks on either side of the torrent so that it remained in its bed and did not impact homes. This was the objective to achieve before winter. Now, we will wait for the meetings at the prefecture to find out the studies and the solutions that could be brought to bring the village back to life.” explains the mayor of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans Jean-Louis Arthaud.

Beyond the priority of the torrent, the machines removed tons of stones carried by the floods: “We moved a large volume of materials. The result is satisfactory because we managed to reopen practically all the small streets. Residents can access La Bérarde by vehicle, we have cleared all around the houses. This gives a much friendlier appearance to the village. The cleaning work was very extensive. The village is now in winter. Most of the preservation has been done.”

And now ?

The mayor of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans hopes that work will be able to resume in March to better plan for the 2025 summer season: “I organized several meetings with the population to redevelop the valley. We worked with organizations like the Parc des Ecrins and Oisans Tourisme to start thinking about a destination for 2025 to at least make the shelters work. Will we be able to get into a vehicle at La Bérarde? The question is there. If we can't, we'll have to find a way with shuttles, for example.”

Vehicles should at least have authorization to come to Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans in the coming weeks. The departmental decree is in force until the beginning of December. The department should pave an access track to Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans for the winter season in the coming days. The last hamlet accessible by car, like every winter, will now be Champhorent.