The boom of the crane screwed on the summit of Les Grands Montets and split in two on October 2. No-one was injured. What consequences for the ongoing works at Les Grands Montets?
Fortunately, there were no injuries, but this is a a blow for the site of the Les Grands Montets. On 2 October, at the end of the morning, the boom of the lifting crane, anchored at more than 3,200 meters above sea level, suddenly split into two pieces.
The workers who witnessed the scene did not understand why this metal arm, 18 meters long, suddenly dislocated in front of them, while a de-icing operation was being carried out. The boom fell onto the summit of Les Grands Montets, causing some rock to fall, which, fortunately, did not injure any of the workers mobilized on the site.
The fact remains that this machine, unusable for the moment, remains essential to the overall overhaul of the Grands Montets carried out by the commune of Chamonix and the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc. The lifting machine, which had been specifically designed for this site, is used in particular for the construction of the project's summit station, one of the cube-shaped stations designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano.
Experts from Spie Batignolles, one of the civil engineering companies engaged on the site and which manages this crane, will work to assess the extent of the damage and perhaps find a way to repair the broken boom.
Wind gusts up to 132 km/h
The loss of this tool risks in any case causing delays for this 150 million euro project, which was already behind schedule due to the harsh weather conditions encountered in the spring and in recent weeks.
The violence of the winds and the significant precipitation observed at this altitude in the Mont-Blanc massif could also be one of the explanations for the dislocation of the crane arm. Gusts of 132 km/h were measured during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday at the Aiguille du Midi.
Before this incident, the commissioning of the new cable car to access the summit of Grands Montets was planned for December 2026.
Le Dauphiné
