Fort Boyard, threatened by the waves, is under construction

Be careful, site! The titanic renovations of Fort Boyard, an emblematic military building that has become a television decoration that threatens to collapse under the assaults of the waves, began this week with the beginning of earth movements.

During the first phase of this work, which will run for three years for a prognosis budget of 36 million euros, excluding taxes, a shovel installed in a floating ponto will extract between 3,500 and 4,000 meters of embankment bucket in a depth of 5 to 7 meters around the building.

The rock groups, mainly composed of masonry of historical works that surround the fort and fall into ruins since then, have been rejected in the sea in existing holes located nearby.

Cracks on the wall

Next September, during the main tides of equinox, the risberme (protective embankments that have the base of the building) will also be restored to stabilize these areas damaged by the assault of the waves.

In 2026, a reinforced concoste stimulus, which occupies the relief of the Granito del Fuerte base, will be carried out in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) before being installed in the front and rear of the building, in the summer of 2027.

“We spid off works that existed during the construction of the Fort in the 19th century, with an almost identical geometry. The strong will resume its original image with elements sized to (retain) at least 100 years,” says Jean Boisson, Operating Director of Etpo (ETPO Operational Director (public works company in the west), specialized in maritime and river works, during a press visit.

With its “cracks that attract the walls”, “there really is an urgency of acting because today it is the whole building that moves due to the disappearance of the protections. If we do nothing, it will collapse,” he assures the president of Charítimo de Charente, Sylvie Marcilly.

The Departmental Council voted in favor of an authorization that reaches 44 million euros for this work and launched a donation call. The community plans that the site is accessible to visitors “in the summer of 2028” accessible.

Built between 1803 and 1857, an old military work that became a prison between the island of Oléron and Aix Island, Fort Boyard had fallen into poor condition before registering in historical monuments.

Bought in 1988 by Jacques Antoine, producer of television games, it was sold the following year by a symbolic Frenchman in the department of Charente-Marítima, responsible since he kept him.