Barrage du Châtelot

Origin of the name Barrage du Châtelot

Name origin: the dam bears the name of the place « Le Châtelot », on the Swiss bank of the Doubs, where the « Côte du Châtelot » also lies. The etymology of this name is not explained in the sources consulted.

Founding of Barrage du Châtelot

The Châtelot dam is an uninhabited hydroelectric structure on the Doubs, on the border between France (Villers-le-Lac) and Switzerland (municipality of Les Planchettes). At the end of the 19th century, the arrival of electricity in the canton of Neuchâtel led to the abandonment of the run-of-river mills, and a dam project was already mentioned in 1895. A Franco-Swiss convention was concluded in 1930. The dam and the Torret power station were built from 1950 to 1953 for the Société des Forces Motrices du Châtelot (SFMC), a Swiss limited company based in Les Planchettes whose shareholders are half French and half Swiss (EDF, Groupe E, La Goule and the canton of Neuchâtel). The designs are by Electro-Watt (Zurich) and Suisselectra (Basel). The concessions run until 31 December 2028.

History of Barrage du Châtelot

End of the 19th century. The arrival of electricity in the canton of Neuchâtel leads to the abandonment of the run-of-river mills.

1895. Documents kept in the archives of the canton of Neuchâtel already mention a dam project.

1930. First convention between Switzerland and France on the development of this stretch of the Doubs.

1947. The Confederation grants a concession to the Société des Forces Motrices du Châtelot (1950 according to the SFMC, to be cross-checked).

1950. Construction of the dam and the Torret power station begins; about 1'200 men, many of them Italian, work on the power station (to be cross-checked).

1953. After three years of work, the dam and the Torret power station, with an output of 30'000 kW, are commissioned.

1954. The French State in turn grants a concession to the SFMC.

1987. Installation of thermometers in the concrete and of pressure cells.

1995. Installation of new pressure sensors and an inverted pendulum.

2005. A new turbine is installed at the foot of the dam; its constant flow of 2 m3/s improves aquatic life downstream and produces about 7 million kWh a year (2006 according to another source, to be cross-checked).

Historic sites in Barrage du Châtelot

The dam. Arch dam 74 m high with a 150 m long crest, whose top is at 716 m altitude; it holds back a maximum of 16 million m3 of water (figures vary between sources) and forms the Lac de Moron.

The Lac de Moron. Reservoir of about 690'000 m2 formed by the dam on the Doubs, between France and Switzerland.

The Torret power station. Power station commissioned in 1953, downstream of the dam, fed by an intake tunnel about 3 km long; it has four Francis turbines and two 15'000 kW alternators and produces an average of 90 GWh a year.

Remains in Barrage du Châtelot

The submerged hamlets. The filling of the Lac de Moron submerged the hamlets of Moron, Les Graviers and L'Enfer (to be cross-checked).

Sources

• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Planchettes, Les »
• Commune des Planchettes, « Le Châtelot »
• SFMC, Société des Forces Motrices du Châtelot, « Société »
• Comité suisse des barrages, « Châtelot » (fiche technique)
• Comité français des barrages et réservoirs, « Barrage du Châtelot » (monographie)
• La Presse du Doubs, « 70 ans d'exploitation du barrage du Châtelot » (à recouper)
• Wikipédia, « Barrage du Châtelot » (à recouper)
• swisstopo, geo.admin.ch, répertoire des noms géographiques

Other villages near Barrage du Châtelot

• Les Planchettes (NE)
• Saut du Doubs (NE)
• Les Eplatures (NE)
• Les Brenets (NE)
• Le Locle (NE)