Event
The Construction of the Chambon Dam
Period
on
April 25, 1935
Location
Chambon Dam
Source
Association Freneytique, Chambon : dans l’ombre d’un géant
This narrative is based on the memory of our community. It may be enriched and corrected over time as new information emerges.
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Event narrative
The works stretched from 1929 to 1935. They began with the diversion of the Romanche through a canal and the boring of a temporary tunnel. The “excavations” required digging the bed of the Romanche down to the rock into which the foundations would be anchored; they were not completed until 1932 and cost the lives of thirteen workers between 1930 and 1932. The dam progressed along with its ancillary works: a water conduit toward the power plant downstream, and a cableway to carry the concrete. It was completed in the spring of 1935. On April 25, 1935, Alix de Foresta, granddaughter of Henri Frédet and future wife of Prince Napoleon, closed the valve and triggered the rise of the waters that submerged the plain. On All Saints’ Day 1935, the priest of Le Freney-d’Oisans, from a boat, blessed the waters covering the disappeared villages.