Building the road to ITER - (1) Pont de Mirabeau

If you take the Mirabeau road between Jouques and St-Paul-Lez-Durance to go to Cadarache, you may have already noticed the temporary traffic lights on the RD 952. The traffic modifications are due to the construction of a retaining wall at Mirabeau as part of the work on the ITER Itinerary. The construction of this eight metre-high retaining wall in concrete will double the width of the existing road and consequently enable future nine metre-wide convoys to transport the ITER components from Berre to Cadarache in early 2010.

The wall will be 10 meters wide, including 6 meters of highway accessible to motorists. Terraces with trees will run alongside the whole length of the wall 'in order to facilitate its integration in the protected site of Mirabeau' added Annick Mievre, in charge of the Operation ITER itinerary in the Direction Régionale de l'Equipement (DRE PACA).

Avoiding any damage to the protected fauna and flora in the Mirabeau pass is essential in the overall work process. Last week, the vaults in the cliff were examined to evacuate any bats, before the work started on reinforcing the structure maintaining the wall. Next step: The start of the construction of the wall to widen the road on the Durance side of the pass, foreseen to last April 2009.