Logo Musée du Patrimoine

All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Patrimoine
  3. Occitanie
  4. Tarn
  5. 81160 Saint-Juéry

  6. Hydropower station n° 1 du Saut du Tarn in Saint-Juerry

 Hydropower station n° 1 du Saut du Tarn in Saint-Juerry à Saint-Juéry dans le Tarn

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine industriel
Tarn

Hydropower station n° 1 du Saut du Tarn in Saint-Juerry

    Saut du Tarn Avenue Germain-Tequi
    81160 Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Centrale hydroélectrique n 1 du Saut du Tarn à Saint-Juéry
Crédit photo : Szeder László - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1800
1900
2000
1824
Factory Foundation
1897
Construction of plant
1902
Energy expansion
1911-1920
Major expansions
1983
Factory closure
1995
Opening of the museum
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Central with its tower, its machinery (in accordance with the inventory of 4 June 1996 annexed to the file) , its pipeline and leak channels, located in a real estate complex, lots number 1 (composed of a part of industrial land and rocks, on which is located a hydropower plant known as station 1, the grids of said station and the arrival bib upstream of the grids) , 2 (composed of a part of 105 m2 of land contiguous to station number 1 and situated within lot number 1 with a small building attached to the station, four metal towers supporting an inlet and start herse, electric power lines) and 3 (composed of a 250 m concrete leak channel bringing the waters of the Tarn River from station number 1 to station number 2) (Box AK 83): classification by order of 5 July 1996

Key figures

Léon Talabot - Industrial and manager (1832-1864) Modernised the factory and developed production.
Adolphe Espinasse - Technical Director (1876-1892) Pioneer of Siemens ovens and electric steels.
Eugène Espinasse - Director (from 1903) Continues modernization and electrification.
François-Gabriel de Solages - Viscount and industrial (XVIII s.) First attempts to forge at Saut de Sabo.

Origin and history

The first hydroelectric power station in Saut du Tarn was built in 1897 in the heart of a vast 20-hectare metallurgical site operated since 1824 by the Société des Hauts-Fourneaux, Forges et Aciéries du Saut-du-Tarn. It was put into operation to illuminate the factory and provide mechanical and thermal energy from 1902. This complex, installed on a 20-metre rock fall, specialized in the production of steel, false, file and spring, drawing on the hydraulic strength of the Tarn and local iron and coal ore resources.

The original architecture of the plant, made of local stone and decorative brick, was preserved during successive enlargements (1911, 1915, 1920). A tower of electric lines, like a lighthouse, was added around 1915, while a second building was built in the Tarn aplomb around 1920. Inside, the original machines — dynamos, turbines, power converters and control panels — remained in place until the plant was finally shut down in 1990. This site, classified Historic Monument in 1996, illustrates industrial innovation of the late 19th century.

The plant is part of an industrial history begun in the 12th century with mills and martinets operated by the fall of the Tarn. In the 19th century, the factory grew under the direction of industrialists such as Léon Talabot (1832-1864) and Adolphe Espinasse (1876-1892), who modernized the steel production processes and diversified the manufactures (limes, valves, aratory tools). The hydropower plant marked a turning point in allowing energy autonomy, which was essential to support plant growth until the middle of the 20th century.

After the closure of the steel plant in 1983, power plant No. 1 was converted in 1995 to the Cultural Space of Saut-du-Tarn, a museum retracing 160 years of industrial history. The building, with its machinery preserved in situ, its ducts and its characteristic tower, bears witness to the golden age of the Tarnian metallurgy. Today, it attracts around 10,000 annual visitors, celebrating a unique technical and social heritage in Occitanie.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum