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The A13 motorway viaduct, west of Paris, is still closed with the exception of a single lane returned to traffic at the beginning of May. And this could last several more weeks, even until the Olympic Games.
The total reopening of the A13 to traffic is planned for the end of June, according to the prefect of Hauts-de-Seine. But several sources, including some at the Direction des Routes d’Île-de-France (DiRIF), explain to franceinfo that the highway may not reopen before the start of the Olympic Games, on July 26. Work is underway under the viaduct to repair a damaged pipe, five meters below the roadway. A delicate operation, because a leak would have consequences.
But above all, some of the numerous sensors installed in the area would have shown that the ground is not completely stabilized, due to the shrinkage-swelling of the clay soils. This slows down the security of the highway. During the Games, the A13 must serve four Olympic sites in Yvelines…
The prefect of Hauts-de-Seine confirmed it recently: the digging of a hole below has probably weakened the A13. Work towards the construction of the private car park for the Musée du Grand Siècle, a flagship project of the Hauts-de-Seine Departmental Council, costing 100 million euros.
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Shortly after the digging of this hole by workers, Pierre, a local resident used to Saint-Cloud park, noticed the movement of the ground : “In less than a week, I saw the road deform. When we dig like crazy and we don’t manage the hydraulics, the water goes underneath. And inevitably, the land upstream becomes is collapsed too. If the wall had given way, it would have been a disaster…” However, this risk of collapse did exist. The prefect and the DiRIF immediately closed the A13 after the appearance of cracks.
franceinfo obtained the written documents and the building permit from the Musée du Grand Siècle. Conclusion : a little before the actual start of this project, the work on the retaining wall was a real subject between the services of the Hauts-de-Seine Departmental Council and the Île-de-France Roads Department. DiRIF learned very late of the existence of work right next to the load-bearing wall of its highway. And for good reason : this did not appear in the department’s project presentation notice, as it says in black and white in a letter that we consulted.
Despite everything, the Roads Department gave a favorable opinion, subject to continuing discussions on the subject of this wall. But, to our knowledge, without requiring a more in-depth hydraulic study, which would have made it possible to remove doubts before giving the first blow of the pickaxe… All this poses a lot of questions, for a repair that will cost a lot of money.