This is a new expertise that worries the co-owners of the Valentin complex in the Gourette ski resort. The car parks of this residence of 400 apartments have been closed since 2020 by prefectural decree for security reasons but the situation is getting worse. A reconstruction of these car parks was estimated at 25 million euros. The file has dragged on for years between the private co-owners and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department to find out who should pay the bill. This new study made public by the co-owners shows that corrosion of concrete has accelerated over the last four years with now a risk of collapse of the structure.
The whole building could collapse
These new investigations were carried out in November 2023 at the foot of poles which support both the floors of the car parks but also the five floors buildings above. The major structural weaknesses that are noted”call into question the general stability of the structure” according to the expert. On videos attached to the report, we see the state of disrepair of the concrete and the corrosion which is attacking the reinforcements.
Some are completely sectioned. “Concrete disintegrates at an exponential rate,” indicates the expert who makes a most worrying conclusion. According to him, the work presents “a glaring risk of collapse, which could be brutal. The bursting of a pole could occur at any time, resulting in the collapse of the building without any warning signs.“
Co-owners at an impasse
Eric Moisan, co-president of the Association for the Defense of Co-Owners of Valentin Residences, believes that this is the result of the neglect of recent years. “As nothing is done, the problems become more and more serious. The longer we wait, the greater the risks. We are worried and desperate.“Private co-owners say they do not have the means to finance the work alone. Their apartments are losing value and bringing in little.”This winter a studio was sold for only €30,000,” confides Eric Moisan.
