An annual exercise for deploying anti-submersion devices, designed to protect the city in case of storms or rising waters, will take place on October 7 and 8 in various sectors of La Rochelle. This mandatory training, organized around the 5th National Resilience Day, aims to train intervention teams, check equipment, and inform residents and shopkeepers about the system's operation.
The deployment will begin on the morning of October 7, with an initial section tested between the Port de Plaisance and the Pont Scherzer in Gabut. The following day, October 8, fifty agents from the Groupement d’Intervention Littorale (GIL) will deploy the system between Pont Scherzer and Quai Valin. Operations will include installing coffer dams within the Saint-Nicolas tower construction site, raising sluice gates at the Gabut terraces, and deploying an anti-submersion barrier along the Cours des Dames, between the Tour de la Chaîne and Place Barentin.
The overall system includes 220 linear meters of coffer dams (Gabut and Ville-en-Bois sectors), 200 linear meters of sluice gates in Gabut, 810 meters of anti-submersion barrier encircling the Vieux-Port, 80 meters of coffer dams for the marina, and 87 meters of coffer dams in the Port-Neuf sector. These installations aim to protect people and property, with some parts permanently integrated into the landscape and public space, while others need to be deployed in case of an alert.
The exercise will take place on the morning of October 7 in Ville en bois, on the morning of October 8 in Port-Neuf, and from 10 AM to 4 PM around the Vieux-Port. Access for pedestrians and cyclists will be maintained, but the City and the Agglomeration advise caution due to the presence of equipment and machinery.
