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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The former Fay-aux-Loges power plant, built between 1908 and 1912, was a steam plant designed to produce electricity distributed to eleven pumping substations along the Orléans Canal. Its role was crucial: it allowed to raise the water of the Loire, via the Combleux station, up to the canal's divide, while storing the rainwater reserves in the valley pond. The buildings, made of brick and coated, also housed accommodation for staff (foreman, electrician, mechanic). A high brick fireplace, now shortened, and a frame with the Polonceau under a dardoise roof characterized its typical industrial architecture.

The power station was closed in 1922 because of the decline in traffic on the Canal d'Orléans. In 1970, its chimney was reduced by 10 metres. The site, partially preserved (façades, roofs, fireplace), is now protected under the Historical Monuments (registration in 1999) and hosts a restaurant. Its centered plan, inspired by the elevatory plants of the time like that of Briare, illustrates hydraulic engineering of the early twentieth century. Note: the first factory of this type in France was built in 1897 by the engineer Galliot on the Burgundy Canal.

The ancillary buildings, initially dedicated to staff accommodation (driver, driver-driver), remain but have been modified. The factory itself, though distorted, retains remarkable architectural elements such as its lanterns and metal frame. The pump station on the other side of the canal, located opposite, complemented this technical device. The site, a private property, symbolizes the era of electrification of river infrastructures before its early decline.

The Canal d'Orléans, for which the plant was built, initially linked the Loire to the Seine via the Loing. Its electrical pumping system, innovative for the time, was designed to alleviate water shortages during drought. The Fay-aux-Loges plant is thus part of a series of major hydraulic installations in France, marking the transition between mechanical energy (moulins) and industrial electricity.

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