Par Annick Guillemot
Published on
On the occasion of a very favorable tidal coefficient (112), the small port of Gwin Zegal To Plouha (Côtes-d’Armor) was entitled to a operationspectacular interviewWednesday 22 February: the replacement of one of the piles by a new tree freshly uprooted.
One of the two piling ports in Brittany
There is only two piling ports why type in Brittanyin Plouha and Porspoder (port of Mazou).
Their mooring system for pleasure boats originated from a ancestral techniquedating back to the Middle Ages:
Here, no concrete block stuck in the mud, but pretty wooden stakes which are in fact tree trunksfixed in the mud with their roots and wedged with boulders.
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In oak or elm: they last 8 to 10 years in salt water
Tourist asset of the region, the small port of Gwin Zegal, in Plouha, has recently been labeled “Port of heritage interest”. It has always been carefully maintained by the city’s technical services every year.
The used piles are regularly changed there:
A stake has between 8 and 10 years of life. Last year, we changed three. This year, only one will be replaced.
Replacing a stake is done with a recently uprooted tree.
The one that was changed on February 22, was taken locally, on the Kério site in Pléguien (Côtes-d’Armor), an area belonging to the community of communes Leff Armor:
The tree, 9 m high, with a very straight trunk, is chosen with the technicians of the environment department and those of the ONF.
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An American red oak from a local afforestation
This time it’s a American red oak of which we have preciously preserved the roots for’ensure good stability in the ground.
At the time of installation in the mud, it will be sunk to a depth of 1.50 m.
Once installed, the mooring post will be completed with a chain fixed 2 or 3 meters above the ground, 5 or 6 meters long and at the end of which a shackle will be fixed.
In order to perpetuate the resource, the association of boaters in connection with the municipality plants each year a hundred trees on municipal land. These plantations will be useful… in 25 years.
44 moorings
Inspired by an ancient technique, the port of Gwin Zegal was developed in 1854 by the municipality of Plouha, with the help of fishermen, who established a dry stone breakwater, covered at mid-tide to shelter the boats.
The port counts today 44 moorings reserved for yachtsmen and an additional mooring reserved for safety at sea.
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