Saint-Gingolph

Stabilization of the left bank of the Morge River upstream of the village of Saint-Gingolph

Upstream of the village of Saint-Gingolph and its «Leman Forest Adventure Park», the floods of April-May 2015 eroded the foot of the left bank. Above, the slope is very steep (100%) and very high (30 m). Suddenly without support, the entire embankment slid into the bed of the Morge. At the top of the slope is the GR5 (long-distance hiking route) which links Saint-Gingolph to the Mediterranean and which makes the cross-border village on the shores of Lake Geneva known to people far and wide. As a result, the St. Gingolph authorities wished to undertake emergency work to make this road safe, which involved the complete restoration of the bank, both to protect it from erosion and to support the road effectively. Taking into account the context in a wild gorge and forest environment, solutions allowing good landscape and biological integration of the works were desired. It was also important to keep the structures light, so as not to overload this high and unstable slope and to slow down runoff water as much as possible.

HEPIA’s EVA group has developed a project using plant engineering, forestry engineering and mixed techniques (plant engineering combined with civil engineering) to stabilise the river bank and embankment. It also provided its expertise as support for the tendering and local management phases of the works (technical monitoring of the site).