White water course: L'argentière
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:: White water course > L'argentière la Bessée

L'Argentière la Bessée, a former industrial town, conducts, since the closing down of important factories, a sport and tourism policy.

Based in idyllic surroundings for the practise white water sports, the town wanted to lay out a white water stadium in the bed of the Durance near its lake ponds. The Durance has been layed out in order to create water movements adapted to white water sports. This lay out is situated upstream the city of Argentière la Bessée. For this, we had installed rocks in the river bed, 7000m³ of fluvial deposits had been cleared and banked up. Moreover, some infrastructures like landings had been realised.

Thanks to this equipment, L'Argentière la Bessée has a white water stadium with a national and international level, which constitutes the departure of the longest non stop paddling river in France (35 kilometres to Embrun).



Pratiquant canoë kayak Vue d'ensemble du site d'Argentière la Bessée
Rive signalétique Pratiquant raft

Characteristics of the Argentière la Bessée white water course

Water supply gravity
Flow rate 5 to 70 m³/s
Length 450 m
Width 6 to 30 m
Drop 4 m
Difficulty of level II to IV

  • Cost of the installation : 1 524 000 euros

  • Client : Commune de l'Argentière la Bessée

  • Participation of EDF : Pre-project phase, Tender file, Assistance during the tender and Construction follow-up

  • Opening date : July 1993

  • Main events : The french Cup for Slalom in 1995, French Championships in 1996, National selection in 1997 and in 1998, French Championships for 16 and 17-year-old participants in 1999, the Final of the French Cup in 2000

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