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A N

O P E R A T I O N

O F

N A T I O N W I D E

I N T E R E S T

Restoring Mont St-Michel to its marine setting is part of a great ambition: to conduct an in-depth renovation of the landscape that serves as a jewel-case to one of mankinds major shrines, and renew the path of discovery of the site, in the spirit of the pilgrims crossing over. Mont-Saint-Michel stands in a bay with breathtaking scenery and ecosystems. It is a spot of unmatched beauty that features twice in Unescos list of world heritage sites (1979). This outstanding dimension has earned it its international reputation. The feat of architecture and the exceptional harmony with the bay which its founders were looking for are timeless qualities. However, in the short term, Mont St-Michel is facing the threat of becoming irremediably landlocked. Around the rock, silting has worsened over the centuries and with successive human interventions polderization, the building of the causeway, and the dam fitted with floating sluice-gates Colonisation by plant life continues. The natural sands are spoilt by the presence of a parking area. Europe, the French State and the local and regional authorities have decided to join forces in recovering the spirit of the place so that this treasure of all mankind should remain a sought-after monument for generations to come.

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AN OPERATION OF NATIONWIDE INTEREST

THE SPIRIT OF MONT ST-MICHEL BREATHES OVER THE BAY

Imagence 3D / MGDesign a m a r i n e s e t t i n g

A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OPERATION

Since 1995, when the French State and the Syndicat Mixte Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel became involved, and subsequently the launch of the initial works in 2005, restoring the Mont to its marine setting has turned out to be one of Europes most original and remarkable site restoration operations. The European Union, which is contributing funding, has highlighted its dimension as a genuine sustainable development project to serve the area. The main idea is to restore a marine setting to Mont StMichel with tidal water all around on a regular basis, by using the combined power of the water from the incoming tide and from the River Couesnon. Reclaiming the sands in this way also means doing away with the 15 hectares of car and coach parks, as well as the causeway linking the rocky island to the mainland, as they have blocked the tidal currents for over 130 years. The idea is also to have a completely new approach to the monument for the 3 million sightseers who come to see it, and often faithfully come again. From the mainland up to the Mont, a new approach road is to be constructed: you arrive at a parking area with reception and information services, 2.5 km (1.5 mi) from the Mont, and take the footpaths or public transport shuttle. You will then be able to taste the old spirit of crossing over to Mont St-Michel, taking the time needed to take in the bay scenery, stopping off at the dam then the pedestrian footbridge offering an unbroken view of Tombelaine rock, Mont St-Michel and the bay. These new conditions of access to the rock will play a crucial role in controlling the influx of tourists. They will help to preserve, now and for future generations, the abbey approaches, a major cultural and spiritual destination, and the natural landscape of the bay listed as a Unesco world heritage site.

Central to economic development in the bay area

The project is also central to schemes to boost the bay area economy for the benefit of the populations of both regions. Particular emphasis should be given to the action of Lower Normandy and Brittany Regions with the State and RFF to ensure a rail link from Paris, and also from Cancale to Granville, with a new local public service, Ligne Baie (Bay Line) laid on each summer. As a quality alternative to the car, it seeks gradually to coax the public to take a closer look at the bay by encouraging short stays. In addition to these concerted efforts, there are other coastal development schemes to take the project further (Operation Grand Site and then the programme for Integrated management of the coastal areas within the bay), and also productions responding to visitors expectations in terms of cultural enrichment (Scriptorial at Avranches, celebration of the 13th centenary of Mont St-Michel). All these initiatives help to renew the image of the bay and to give wider dissemination to the economic benefits of Mont St-Michel, a flagship of the local economy.

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AN OPERATION OF NATIONWIDE INTEREST

A JOB HALF COMPLETED

Restoring Mont St-Michel to its marine setting, an initiative of the French State and the Syndicat Mixte Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel, is now in its operational phase, halfway from full completion. A number of landmark stages are due to be reached:

> The building of the dam across the Couesnon, officially launched by the Prime Minister in June 2006, reaches completion. This construction, the cornerstone of the water management aspect of the project, began its task of desilting the Mont approaches in May 2009. The public service delegation for visitor parking and transport was also awarded in the autumn of 2009. > This year will mark the start of the reception facilities (landscaped parking area, reception and services buildings) and access to Mont St-Michel (pedestrian bridge and causeway) providing a totally new approach to the rock. A start will also be made to modifications both upstream and downstream of the dam, which are to restore the Couesnons hydraulic capacity to shift the silt out far beyond the Mont.

2009

2010

the Mont.

2012 > The new parking area on the mainland and the public transport shuttles will be commissioned to carry visitors to

A final stage is to be reached in 2014 with completion of the pedestrian bridge and, still more symbolically in 2015, with the destruction of the causeway after over a century. The works contributing to restore Mont St-Michel to a marine setting will by then have been fully completed, but it will be a few more years before a broad area of sands opens up around the rock and for the Mont to recover its marine setting in all its fullness. Mont St-Michel will remain open to visitors during the works

TIMELINE FOR THE WORKS

THE DAM ACROSS THE COUESNON WORK STARTS WATER MANAGEMENT WORKS PARKING AREA SHUTTLES THE NEW ACCESS TO THE MONT
Commissioning of the parking area Commissioning of the shuttles

Commissioning on the east arm Up- and downstream of the dam across the Couesnon

Commissioning of the pedestrian bridge

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AN OPERATION OF NATIONWIDE INTEREST

BRINGING THE TIDES BACK TO THE MONT

The silt deposited by the sea on each tide was a short-term threat to Mont St-Michel. This natural phenomenon, worsened by human interventions, would eventually have made the Mont a part of the mainland. This is why the State and local and regional authorities joined forces in order to bring the tides back to the Mont and restore the abbey as a great heritage shrine.
Imagence 3D / MGDesign Espace diffusion

Today

by 2025

The operation to restore the sands will free the Mont from the build-up of silt and the grip of the salt meadows. Through the combined forces of the sea and the Couesnon, the sediment will be flushed out to sea away from the vicinity of the Mont, which will stay clear of the salt marshes for a long time to come. Once the new dam is commissioned, the demolition of the current parking areas and the causeway, which are an obstacle to the free circulation of sea currents, almost 15 hectares (36 acres) of sands will be restored to nature. Mont St-Michels environment will completely recover its marine dimension. The River Couesnon will have the task of shifting the silt that has built up between the mainland and the rock. Tide after tide, the new dam will generate progressive releases of water, restricted to the Mont approaches; Regaining its hydraulic power, the river will be strong enough to lower the level of the sands, push back the salt marshes and maintain the marine setting for a long time to come around the Mont and the ramparts. The intermittent presence of the sea will once more make the sands and channels an ever-changing sight depending on the tide and light.

Thomas Jouanneau

A Panel for hydrosedimentary monitoring, made up of independent international experts, has been advising the Syndicat Mixte Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel since July 2007. Its task is to monitor the hydraulic and sedimentary evolution of controlled flushing operations over time, analyze the results obtained and if necessary suggest further measures.

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AN OPERATION OF NATIONWIDE INTEREST

BACK to the spirit of the crossing

As a masterpiece of the human heritage, Mont St-Michel is today the most popular tourist venue outside of Paris. Each year, three million visitors come from the world over to admire it. However, the reception facilities are no longer in line with the prestige of the place or with public expectations. The project will enhance the crossing from the mainland to Mont St-Michel, with a completely new path to discover the Mont linking together the different types of scenery you pass through. The new approach offered to the public will be worthy of this major world heritage site and its symbolic representation.
Oktal Virtual fly past from Moidrey Cove again under water, the dam across the Couesnon, the pedestrian bridge and the Mont. The marine impression is clearly present for this average spring tide (coefficient 105/110).

The reception works on the mainland: a transition before the crossing

On parking their vehicles in the parking area on the mainland 2.5 km (1.5 mi) from the Mont, visitors will find services nearby and will then access the Mont either on foot or in the transport shuttle. There will be parking for 4,200 cars and coaches. Standing back away from the Mont, the car park will fade into the background for the benefit of the site.
Imagence 3D / MGDesign

The pedestrian bridge: a jetty out to the Mont

Visitors will set out on a causeway offset to the east. This will turn into a pedestrian bridge over the final 750 metres, bending off westwards and stopping 120 metres short of the ramparts. Walkers will find themselves in a safe, peaceful atmosphere on a footpath protected from the lane taken by the shuttles and the traffic from the odd authorized vehicle.

The final stage: a submersible ford

A slipway gently sloping down will take visitors from the pedestrian bridge onto an earth platform surmounted by a submersible ford. This will take them across the final 120 metres from the pedestrian bridge to the Porte de lAvance (the main entrance to the Mont). Very occasionally, the ford will come under water on very big spring tides, restoring its full marine dimension to Mont St-Michel as an island surrounded by water, only accessible when the tide goes out. La gestion de la frquentation touristique Under the aegis of the Syndicat Mixte, an observatory of the number of visitors to Mont St-Michel was set up starting in the spring of 2008 in partnership with the University of Western Brittany (Laboratoire Gomer) in order to: monitor changing numbers of visitors to the Mont; provide long-term help with management of tourist influxes to the site; create a forecasting tool as a decision-making aid.

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AN OPERATION OF NATIONWIDE INTEREST

A joint operation
Restoring Mont-Saint-Michel to a marine setting represents 176.3 million euros in direct public investment.

Schma global des amnagements

Overall diagram of the modifications
Mont St-Michel
Groynes

Earth platform and ford

amnagements hydrauliques dans la baie 

Guiding and dividing dyke

Groynes

Pedestrian bridge Le

gu / The ford

Europe Feder Fund 21.15 million

ouvrages daccs dans la baie 

tat 81.43 million

Causeway

Hydraulic modifications in the bay

Dam
To Avranc hes

To Pontor

Syndicat Mixte through its local authority members: 63.92 million

Access works in the bay

son

Parking area

ouvrages daccueil

Lower Normandy Region 33.57 million

Brittany Region 14.75 million

Barrage / Dam Curage du Couesnon

Dredging of the Couesnon

Navettes
Shuttles

Reception works

Manche department 11.20 million

Ille-et-Vilaine department 4.40 million

Anse de Moidrey

Amnagements hydrauliques lamont du barrage

Hydraulic modifications

Internal financing: 6 million

Remise en eau de lanse de Moidrey Seine-Normandie water board Loire-Bretagne water board
Bringing the water back into Moidrey Grove

3.80 million

Cost of the works: M176.3

> Hydraulic works: M76.82 - Dam: M34.60 - Upstream hydraulics: M26.00 - Downstream hydraulics: M16.22 > Reception works - Public spaces and buildings (excl. Public Service Delegation) : M8.34 - Public Service Delegation (shuttles and parking area): M12.3 State and Syndicat Mixte > Access works: M38.94 - Pedestrian bridge: M36.14 - Work on Historical Monuments: M2.80 > Owner expenses: M24.65 > Provisions: M15.25

Project owner
Syndicat Mixte Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel 2, rue du Prieur - BP 29 50170 Ardevon Operation superintendent Mission Mont Saint-Michel Direction Dpartementale des Territoires et de la Mer de la Manche

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The dam across the Couesnon

Thomas Jouanneau

The cornerstone of the project, the new dam across the Couesnon will gradually restore the River Couesnon to full power and enable the public to enjoy a unique view of Mont St-Michel from the mainland. Each of its components makes formal reference to the marine character of the place, both in the outline of the details of the infrastructures and in the organization of the spaces dedicated to receiving the public. Thus, occupying a horizontal line and blending into the countryside, it suggests the marine atmosphere of the bay. The play of sluice-gates opening and closing, the changing water levels, change how we see the dam, from full-length opaqueness to great transparency when the sluices are completely open.

Over the water: looking out over the Bay and the Mont
The dam gives a good view over the water of the wider landscape of the Bay and Mont St-Michel itself. The promenade-bridge over the dam was designed as somewhere to walk around between the two banks of the Couesnon. Here ramblers and hikers wishing to walk along the coastal path to discover the Archangels rock amid the sands can get a marvellous view. For those wishing to stay a little longer and take in all the variety of light effects and the natural atmospheres of Mont St-Michel Bay, there is a marine balcony, a space laid out like an amphitheatre over the water, away from the noise and bustle, where you are free to spend some time enjoying the vastness and beauty of the landscape. On the east bank of the Couesnon, an esplanade open to visitors forms a passing place between the Caserne site and the Mont access shuttles. Lastly, these different public spaces give a direct view of the movement of the dam sluices and the play of water rushing through.
Imagence 3D / MGDesign

The dam as water regulator

Through the combined forces of the sea, the Couesnon and the new dam, the silt will be flushed out to sea beyond Mont St-Michel. After commissioning the dam and gradual flushing operations, it will take several years, tide after tide, to clear the millions of cubic metres of silt that have built up and slowly lower the level of the sands. By the year 2025, the Couesnon will have carved out a broad estuary straight back out into the English Channel. The intermittent presence of water on the bare sands will make the scene look different depending on the light. Mont St-Michel will have regained its lost marine setting and will stay that way for a long time to come. This dams original feature is the way it operates, as the sluice-gates can work in both directions, when the water flows downstream and when it flows upstream, depending on the tide and the rivers flow rate. Eight floodgates, each operated by two hydraulic cylinders, rotate to fill the upstream section over the top on the incoming tide, and to drain it off via the underside as it goes out, thereby amplifying the natural flow in the West arm and the East arm. An independent international scientific committee has been set up to monitor the hydrosedimentary effects of these flushing operations and verify the results obtained.
BRL Ingnierie / Luc Weizmann Architect / SPRETEC / ANTEA
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The water management modifications

Today, the bed of the Couesnon is no longer doing its job as a natural storage basin for tidal water, and this has reduced the rivers flushing capability. The silting of the river bed and downstream from the dam is evidence of this loss of hydraulic power. The river meanders only very little amid the silt and vegetation. The water management modifications will restore the rivers strength to carry off the silt away from the Mont and maintain a natural environment of marine sands. Once the river bed has been cleaned up, the Couesnon channel, in conjunction with the water reserve in Moidrey Cove, will be able to store up to 1,500,000 cubic meters of water. This volume available for flushing will be collected from incoming tidal waters and the rivers own natural flow.

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Upstream from the dam

CLEANING OF 4.7 km OF THE COUESNON Between the dam and Moidrey Cove, to get back to the original bed level (+ 2m IGN 69*), the river will be cleaned along the channelled section. Estimated volumes to be dredged: 570,000 m3. MOIDREY COVE BACK UNDER WATER A former wetland meadow surrounded by the Couesnon for a long time used as a site for mining tangue*, this reservoir of extra water for the Couesnon will have a network of channels along a length totalling around 11 km. An initial digging phase was conducted in 2005 with the creation of pools intended for parsley frogs, a protected amphibian species living in the cove. Estimated volumes to be removed: 700,000 m3.
* IGN 69: benchmark altimeter reading ** Tangue: silvery grey sediment formed from sand and fine shell particles.

Downstream from the dam

DEMOLITION OF THE OLD SEAFRONT PARKING AREAS AND THE CAUSEWAY The tangue*-covered section of the causeway will be either recycled (to shore up the dykes to the east) or flushed out (depending on the quality of the tangue). The rocks protecting the causeway can be reused. Dismantling of the rock-filled dykes on the Couesnon (19th c.) Part of this rockfill will be reused for modifications in the bay (guiding and diving dyke from the dam up to the Mont, groynes to the east, eastern groyne at the foot of the Mont) TOP OF CHANNELS The tangue removed immediately downstream of the dam, around 200,000 m3, will as a priority be flushed by the Couesnon out to sea into the bay.

INDUSTRIAL RECYCLING OF THE TANGUE The main areas currently being experimented for recycling the sediment removed from Moidrey Cove and the Couesnon are as farmland refill and calcareous enrichment of acid soils. In a return to ancestral practices, the addition of tangue with its limestone content is an effective way of offsetting mineral depletion on farmland in the polders, and it is also effective against a fungus that is a brassica parasite in the Saint-Malo area.

BET Anta / BRL Ingnierie / Cabinet HYL landscape architects and town planners (P. Hannetel / A. Yver / C. Laforge)

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The reception works on the mainland

As a stopping point from where the footpaths and shuttles leave for Mont St-Michel, the parking area is fully a part of the site visit. Blending unobtrusively into the surroundings, away from the Mont, it is set in the scenery next to the polders and extending the wooded area at La Caserne. Vehicles coming off the access road are concealed behind dykes and plenty of planted vegetation.

VIEW OF MONT-SAINT-MICHEL
Upon arriving at the site, sightseers have a view of the monument and can admire Mont St-Michel and the bay: the Marais Blanc and the East path.

Volia Transport

They are guided away from the cars towards the footpaths, along which there are signboards to help understand the history of Mont StMichel and the bay. There is a choice of three walks: one, the East path, is set on the edge of the polders, following on from the Marais Blanc; another passes through the commercial sector of La Caserne, and the third follows the Couesnon channel until you come to the dam. In the area around the wooded section of La Caserne, the most used spots are separated by clumps of shrubbery. A little further on, in a grassland setting, following on from the nearby polders, there are grassy lots intended for shorter periods of use (peak and near peak periods). The three buildings (reception, services, operation) housed in the parking area offer local architectural forms (long, narrow buildings with two-pitched roofs), combining old materials (granite walls) and other more contemporary materials (glass partitions and timber sunscreens).

Pictures not contractually binding

Cabinet HYL, landscape architects and town planners (P. Hannetel / A. Yver / C. Laforge), Paris / Bruno Mader, architect / Design offce, SOGETI / COSIL, lighting.

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THE CROSSING TO THE MONT

Visitors from the mainland are invited to make their way to Mont St-Michel, the focal point of their gaze ever since they entered the parking area. There is a choice of three paths with contrasting surroundings, with information along the way on Mont St-Michel, the bay and their thousand-year history. They meet up alongside the dam, from where there is a good view of Mont St-Michel gradually being restored to its marine setting. There are also several means of transport available for crossing the sands, reaching the rock at the end of an approach that has been completely revamped.

The overall intention is to make access available to the greatest number through appropriate pricing, and with special attention to mobility impaired users, while respecting the site and the environment. There are four ways of accessing Mont St-Michel from the landscaped parking area on the mainland*; visitors can walk to the Mont, or go to the dam (c. 700 m. away), where free shuttles are available. These reversible and clean (Euro V standard) automobile shuttles, carrying 100 passengers, are specially designed for Mont St-Michel. There are departures all year round from 8 am to 1am, at rates varying from 3 to 4 minutes wait in summer to a maximum quarter of an hour in deepest winter. The shuttles drop visitors off some 350 metres short of the ramparts, where they get an unbroken view of Mont St-Michel. An original horse-drawn service in a maringote* is also available at the shuttle departure point dear the dam (from 10am to 8pm or from 11am to 5pm). As the emblematic animal of Lower Normandy, which is to stage the World Equestrian Games in 2014, the horse will remain a clean and fun solution. For the mobility impaired, and people living or working on the Mont, there will be reserved parking lots centrally placed in the parking area, with a free 20-seater minibus service to the foot of the ramparts 7/24 all year round. A fourth possibility is available to visitors coming from Pontorson railway station. Whether arriving by train or parking at the nearby 250 capacity car park, they will have a bus service timed for train connections; the single fare is 2 per person.
The Syndicat Mixte delegates all reception service (parking area, services and shuttles) to Veolia transport. Total budget: 36 million euros towards which the Syndicat Mixte and the State contribute M12.30, through an equipment grant with possible yearly rates compensations. duration: 3 years of construction and 10 years of operation. Commissioning: 2012

*The maringote is the old name for the light horse-drawn carts that took pilgrims and visitors to the bay. 6.50 return / person under 14s 3.25, one free ride for under 14s. mainland parking area: 4,200 places, including 200 reserved for (motor) cycles,8.50 / car, 55 / private coach, 12.50 / camping-car, 3.50 / motor-cycle, 34 one-year subscription, cycles no charge.

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ON FOOT, BY HORSE OR BY SHUTTLE VISITORS CAN CHOOSE.

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The Mont St-Michel access works

Between Mont St-Michel and the mainland, it is all going to change. The causeway that has been blocking the water flow since 1879 is to go. It will be demolished at the end of operations, a symbolic gesture that will mark the completion of reclamation of the site. A fine-looking pedestrian bridge will straddle the reclaimed marine spaces, coming to rest on the future Mont St-Michel earth platform. The new access route from the mainland restores the full meaning of the bay crossing, opening up a fresh view of the bay, Tombelaine and the Mont. Visitors are invited to go up to the rock in the safety and silence of a complete experience regained.

A JETTY TO THE MONT

The access works to Mont St-Michel will be in sequence: first, the new dyke to be set in the salt marshes, then the pedestrian bridge crossing the East arm of the Couesnon and the marine sands, borne by a whole succession of thin piers. From a distance, the pedestrian bridge will seem to fade into the marine background, its thin deck like a knife blade on the water. Pedestrians will walk on either side of a central reservation in which the shuttles will move up and down without disturbing them. The pedestrian areas will be have a timber surface as found on jetties and other seaside structures.

CROSSING OVER TO THE MONT

The submersible ford takes you across the final 120 metres between the pedestrian bridge and the entrance to Mont St-Michel. Its height and design were defined in order to set off the ramparts and create insularity during the very large spring tides. Up to tidal coefficient 95, you will enter the Mont as now through the main Porte de lAvance entrance. Up to coefficient 103, access will be through a small side gate. And on a few days each year, the very biggest tides will cover the ford, totally surrounding the ramparts. The symbolism of Mont StMichel, a rocky island topped by its abbey, will then be fully restored. However even when submerged, the road will remain fordable by emergency vehicles.

Dietmar Feichtinger Architect / BET Schlaich, Bergermann & Partner.

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A N

O P E R A T I O N

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N A T I O N W I D E

I N T E R E S T

Patrick Dontot

Press contact
Claire Montmont: Tel. 02 31 29 16 96 Mobile: 06 10 15 04 18 claire.montemont@wanadoo.fr

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An operation of nationwide interest backed by: