Anyone who has ventured in the direction of Plan du Pont in recent weeks cannot have missed it. This is a huge project which started just after the Oratoire district between Chemin du Plan du Pont and Gapeau, as part of the Gapeau Flood Prevention Action Program (PAPI) supported by the Syndicat Mixte of the watershed.
Improve flow
After the ecological engineering work along the banks of the river carried out in 2022, this is a new phase which began a few weeks ago and which will continue until May 2025 with the diversion of the Muât channel. Final objective: improve flows and reduce the risk of overflowing by the northern part of the Oratoire subdivision – flooded several times – by diverting the flood channel and restoring its minor bed over 250m (read details opposite).
“The right angle of the old channel is poorly supported, with a frontal overflow into the subdivision, underlines the site manager. It was decided to give it an angle, to enlarge it to increase its capacity and thus respond to a thirty-year flood.” With, of course, constraints that complicate implementation. Like the passage of a pipe from the Canal de Provence under pressure, essential for irrigation, which must be diverted.
To capture the runoff water flowing down the hill and previously collected by the old canal, the storm outlets must be extended and restored.
The ford passage also treated
At the same time, the Muât ford passage, located a few hundred meters further, is also undergoing a major facelift with reinforcement using riprap on the left bank of the Muât in order to reduce the risk of erosion of the the roads.
Present to discover the progress of the construction site, Mayor Jean-Pierre Giran accompanied by the mayor of Pierrefeu Patrick Martinelli – also president of the joint union of the Gapeau watershed – and the prefect Philippe Mahé, welcomed this new phase which has begun , despite some protests from residents also present (read opposite).
“It's an important step, I'm convinced that the channel is important. It's not enough, it's a long journey, we'll have to continue. We know that we can't do everything in one day. We is there to cushion the ten-year and thirty-year floods. We are moving towards the best. underlined the city mayor.
Request for additional consultations
And then demand the organization “additional consultations to see how to improve, amend, complete the project for subsequent phases” which should make it possible to avoid water ingress throughout the Oratory housing estate.
Lively dialogues with the inhabitants of the Oratory
Present in large numbers to discover the construction site and the explanations that go with it, the residents did not hesitate to ask questions and express their concerns or even their dissatisfaction with the PAPI (Flood Prevention Action Programs) of the Gapeau and work in progress, future, or canceled. “On the list of the first PAPI, it was specified the creation of a dike with a 250 m diversion from the flood channel.
She disappeared. Raising the roadway on Chemin du Plan du Pont. The same. The union no longer wants to hear about the retention basin provided for in the Plan du Pont. It is an essential structure for limiting and slowing down the flood. You are unraveling the PAPI,” denounced a resident of the Oratory who then pointed out the deadlines for the work.
“The PAPI was certified in 2020, and the only intervention we saw was the revegetation of the bank using a technique which had no results. The riprap stopped too soon for our liking. Buildings at the top of the bank continue to spill. For four years we have been promised wonders but there is nothing. »
“We have been working on the 2020 PAPI for years, we have done studies, additional studies. Everything is done so that you are presented as effectively as possible. We relied on design offices, people who have skills,” repeated Patrick Martinelli. “The requirements we have from the State often change and become more stringent. We don't do exactly what we want. Major work takes a long time,” added Jean-Pierre Giran.
“I trust the design offices, they told us that the dike is not the right solution, and that the basin is useless, but I was ready to do it” he concluded before calling for “dialogue and consultation” for the future.
