Cascade of Jarrauds

The Cascade of Jarrauds located at Saint-Martin-Castle in the Digs belonged to the Rivière the Maulde.

Maulde, which takes its source in the commune of Gentioux-Pigerolles, feeds in particular the Lac of Vassivière, vast sea interior of 1100 hectares, created about the years 1950. It is thrown in the lake towards the peninsula of Broussat, then arises on the level of the dam Vassivière. But Maulde also feeds from other stoppings on its course: the stopping of the Mount Small drainage canal, the stopping of Saint Julien the Small one, then follows the lake of co. Helene to Bujaleuf.

The Cascade of Jarrauds became celebrates in 1889.

It is right after having received water of its affluent the Langladure which comes from Royère-with-Vassivière, that the Cascade of Jarrauds is formed. In bottom of the Cascade which extends on 3,2 kilometers with a unevenness of 15 measure, there is a factory which made it possible to electrify Bourganeuf.

Indeed, the Town of Bourganeuf was the third French city to receive the electricity in 1886. But the brook of water of Orchard, which had accommodated the dynamo of its first factory, were too low during the summer of 1886 to correctly feed the 60 lights of Bourganeuf. One then decided to use the Cascade of Jarrauds a height of 14 measure and which it, could ensure a largely sufficient production. But this cascade was located at 14 kilometers of Bourganeuf. Thus after three years of studies and a year of work of July 1888 in April 1889, the installations of the factories of the Cascade of Jarrauds and Bourganeuf, were the first in France where one transported electricity at such a distance. The installation included/understood a water turbine of 130 CV with a generator of 100 CV. The electric cable which connected the two sites had a diameter of 5 Misters C' is the engineer physicist Marcel Deprez (1848 - 1918) who directed this work. To crown this technical prowess, the first Téléphone of the area connected the installations of the Cascade and Bourganeuf; whereas the use commercial of the telephone went back in France only to 1879. The lighting of Bourganeuf comprised 106 lamps then: lighting of the streets, church, town hall, coffees… Thus in 1889, Bourganeuf was the first City in France used an electricity produced at a relatively important distance gràce with the cascade.

Random links: