Barrage d'Éguzon
A hundred years, sixty-one metres, and a visit that goes inside
Commissioned in 1926, the Barrage d'Éguzon created Lac de Chambon. EDF opens the inside of the dam to the public, free of charge, by reservation.
Sixty-one metres high, three hundred metres along the crest, five metres thick at the top and more than fifty at the base. Two hundred and twenty thousand cubic metres of concrete. When it came into service, it was one of the most powerful dams in Europe, and it supplied Paris.
It still produces around one hundred and five gigawatt-hours a year, with six Francis turbines.
The EDF guided tour is not just a viewpoint. It takes you into the turbine hall, then into the inspection gallery, inside the structure itself, and finishes on the crest. It's free, lasts around an hour and a half, and must be booked in advance. Groups of eight to fifteen, minimum age twelve, closed shoes required.
If you don't book, the viewpoint is freely accessible, on the D40 on the Cuzion side, a few minutes' walk from a car park.