On the road to ITER

16 Jun 2008 - Sabina Griffith
Nadja Fabre from Mission ITER, in charge of the road construction, explains the plan for the Pont de Mirabeau.

The road towards ITER is under construction. Last week, the mayors and representatives from the local communities and the prefect of the region Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur, Michel Sappin, toured part of the ITER Itinerary taking a close look at the progress of the road works near Meyrargues and the Pont de Mirabeau that are necessary for the ITER convoys to pass.

Starting with test convoys next year, about 300 exceptional transports will have to travel the hundred kilometres from Fos to Cadarache, the biggest ones weighing 900 tons and measuring 9 metres wide and 61 metres long.

The tour, organized by Mission ITER, was accompanied by around 30 journalists who listened closely to what Nadja Fabre, in charge of the ITER Itinerary, reported. Near Meyrargues, the former track is currently being transformed into a proper road including the construction of a new bridge across the Canal du Moulin and the crossing of the railway track.

At the Pont de Mirabeau, works for the supporting wall were slowed down due to the heavy rainfalls over the last weeks and the extreme water level of the Durance river. But the scrapers and caterpillars are back in full gear again. At the Pont de Mirabeau, the road towards Cadarache will be widened by 100 percent in order for the ITER vessel structures and the magnets to pass by.

Now that the water level has dropped, the works for the supporting wall at the historic bridge can continue.