Rockfalls affect tourism at tallest dam in Europe
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Rockfalls affect tourism at tallest dam in Europe
The Grande Dixence dam in southwestern Switzerland is closed to visitors owing to a rockfall at the weekend. The nearby hotel also had to temporarily suspend operations for safety reasons.
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It was evacuated on Wednesday. “At first, it was difficult to digest the news,” director Pauline Moix told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA.
Fifteen tourists who were hiking the Haute Route between Chamonix in France and Zermatt were accommodated in other hotels in the region. The hotel staff, consisting of 12 seasonal workers, found accommodation in Evolène. “I was bombarded with calls from people in the region offering their help,” Moix said.
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According to the municipality of Hérémence, around 5,000 cubic metres of rock have broken off since Saturday. As a result, the cable car has been closed and the cantonal road to the dam has been closed to cyclists and pedestrians.
Dam out of danger
“The dam wall remained intact and there is no danger to it,” said the mayor of Hérémence, Grégory Logean. “The rockfalls – there’s been at least one more since Wednesday evening – affect a very specific area near the cable car. The site is now being monitored by sensors and surveillance systems.”
+ Why do Swiss mountains collapse? It’s complicated
The increase in geological activity observed since last Saturday has prompted the authorities to reinforce protective measures for visitors to Grande Dixence, he said.
This landslide also comes at an unfavourable time for the Grande Dixence operating company. This year, it is celebrating the 75th anniversary of Switzerland’s tallest structure at 285 metres.
The exhibition, which opened in June to mark the occasion and runs until October, is currently not accessible for safety reasons.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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