Today, the biggest ships that put into Bayonne are 20,000-tonne vessels (that is to say that they transport up to 20,000 tonnes of merchandise).

These vessels can only go up to the Saint-Bernard swinging zone when they are fully-laden. Then, they can only carry out the half-turn (swing) manoeuvre once they have been unloaded.

Port safety, however, requires that a vessel experiencing an incident be taken out of the port at any moment ; this is obviously much easier to do if the ship has swung round before being unloaded.

Therefore, the channel has been cleared primarily to improve port safety.In other respects, this work has enabled these vessels to gain access to Saint-Bernard and Blancpignon quays; this was impossible up to now and therefore penalised certain port customers. The Port had already had to refuse certain wood-bearing ships for the Idiart sawmills, established in Soule.

Finally, this operation makes access to the Saint-Bernard Zone much easier. For regular line vessels (for trucks and containers) which should now be able to dispense with tide restrictions as they have a fixed timetable.

WHAT DID THE OPERATION INVOLVE ?

The channel, in the Redon zone, had already been cleared in 1982 and had a very irregular profile.The operation involved lowering the depth of the channel by one meter using a dredger especially equipped with a rock crushing device. 

HOW WAS THE ENVIRONMENT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT ?

This project was subject to very detailed environmental studies based on laws governing water. These studies were carried out by CREOCEAN of La Rochelle, who are authorities in this matter.Approval was then given by the appropriate environmental organisations (DIREN, IFREMER...).Many precautions were taken :

-the work was done outside the fish spawning season, i.e. not between September to February ;
- the use of explosives was not necessary ;
- supervisory measures of the area were undertaken during the works ;
- the irregularity of the depths has been preserved.

Concerning risks of cracking in buildings, inspections were made before and after the works in all the sectors where shockwaves could have been felt.What may be noted is that the Redon zone can be considered today as a zone that is very rich in estuary fauna.After the zone was cleared in 1982, fishing was again possible in 1983. The situation will be same this time and the newly-cleared depths will be restocked in the same way.

COSTS : WHO FINANCED THE WORKS ? 

The cost of this operation, the State being the master of works, cost 3 444 000 euros inclusive of tax.
This was financed as follows :

State 762 000 € inclusive of tax
European Union 686 000 € inclusive of tax
Region of Aquitaine 1 286 000 € inclusive of tax
CCI Bayonne Pays Basque 710 000 € inclusive of tax