Port of Gennevilliers

The port of Gennevilliers is the first port of Île-de-France, the first French river port (in front of those of Strasbourg on the the Rhine and Lyon on the the Rhone), the second European river port (after Duisbourg in Germany). It is located on the commune of Gennevilliers in the north of the department of the Hauts-de-Seine.

History

There be several projects, more or less eccentric, for the creation of a wearing of Paris downstream. Several places of establishments were especially evoked Clichy and the peninsula of Gennevilliers.
The project of Aristide Dumont and Louis Richard, drawn up in 1863 planned to carry out a port which would use the totality of the loop of the peninsula, currently corresponding to current commune of Villeneuve Garenne. The connection with the capital envisaged a road very broad, and completely rectilinear, which would connect the port to the Triumphal arch of the Star.
After the believed of 1910, a commission is installation in order to study, seriously, a site and a project. This commission sits of 1911 with 1914 to adopt several points of which that to establish the new port in the peninsula of Gennevilliers and to connect it with the railways West, of the State, of North and Grande Belt.
The commission privileged this site rather than Clichy primarily in - reason of the weak urbanization. Little industrialized, this place is still very agricultural and offers the advantage of having the ground necessary. In addition, this site, near to the railways, is also accessible to the boats coming from low the the Seine. The bridges are not too low. It remains however to convince the municipality and its inhabitants.
  • In 1917, the two engineers Fulgence Welcome and Bernard Suquet are charged by the municipal council with drawing up the preliminary drafts. Their plans transmitted in 1919 are adopted in 1920. They will be carried out almost exactly as they had envisaged them.
  • In 1925, after the opinion of investigation launched in 1920, for the land acquisition, is launched the public survey to begin the geological surveys.
  • In 1926, the department considers the expropriation of the grounds to lead to the necessary harbor property. The construction of the first two wet docks were started in 1928.
  • In 1931 the first two basins are finished. They however will be used only after the Second world war. The opening in the Seine and the entries of the port are carried out right before the declaration of war.
  • In 1940, after the Armistice, the continuation of work of digging is decided in spite of the lack of material.
  • In 1942, the troops of occupation settle with the coal wharf, occupy the deposits of the hydrocarbon company. German requisitions labor, work of enlarging of the port cease. The French workmen, build in replacement, two field-installed machines military “Pionner Park”, hangards, railways, offices and residences.
  • In 1943, the part left with the National office of Navigation is requisitioned.
The August 25th 1944, German are driven out. September 1st, the American troops occupy “pi Park”.
The war had destroyed all the bridges on the the Seine between Gennevilliers and the sea. This destruction is in a certain way an aubaine, these bridges which had prevented the large ships from going up towards the capital will thus be rebuilt by increasing their height between the surface of the river and the apron of the bridges… Thus they will be rebuilt according to new standards letting pass the boats of strong tonnage.
  • In 1946 the first two wet docks are brought into service and the third, intended for the traffic of liquid fuels, is put in digging. Connection with the railways of the Northern area is carried out. As of the beginning the port attracts the establishment of big industries needing at the same time the water way and the railway.
  • In 1948 right before the opening of the new installations, the traffic is of 45.000 tons.
  • In 1950 the traffic passes to 450.000 tons.
As of 1950 one can distinguish three main actors:
The department which takes part to a large extent in the construction of infrastructures (quays basins, railways, roads etc…)
The chamber of commerce of Paris which produces the tools (cranes, gantries etc…)
And the industrialists who rent and arrange the grounds out of warehouses.
  • In 1955 two other basins are brought into service.
  • In 1957, the stores and the warehouses cover more than 3 hectares.
This same year is brought into service an important silo at grains of 2.300 tons. It is one of largest (even largest) and of most modern of Europe. The corns come from the various areas of France, they are mixed giving a quite particular quality a long time called “corn of Gennevilliers” (whereas it is not cultivated on the spot. Since 1996, in fact the Grands Mills of Paris occupy these silos 28 meters height and 180 meters length.
The construction of a cement bin intended for materials of public works is also completed.
  • In 1958 the port counted 32.000 m2 of stores and warehouses covered, 8 electric cranes on gantries having 18meters of range, 8 crawler-mounted cranes, 22 carriages of loading, 12 km of banks and 27 km of railways distributed on the harbor territory. This same year, the sea traffic of the port of Gennevilliers reached 119.638 tons, giving place to 986 movements of coasters of sea French, Dutch, English and German. From the coal, one manufactured the Gas for domestic use and the coke. This last, residue of the distillation of the Coal, was reserved for the Métallurgie when it was of good quality, the remainder, too friable being intended for the sales to individual for the heating.
  • In 1960, the 5th basin (N°3 wet dock) is brought into service, the traffic is approximately 1.350.000 tons.
  • In 1963 it is the turn of the 6th basin (N°4 wet dock) with the establishment of the first international, but provisional coach station. Approximately 300.000 cubic meters of hydrocarbons are stored in the tanks of the port, which represents approximately the petrol consumption of Paris for 6 months.
  • From 1965, a park of storage of tractors and conveyed new cars by inland waterway east creates (primarily cars Renault).
  • In 1970 the traffic is 9.000.000 of tons. The principal transported goods are the hydrocarbons, the construction materials, the industrial products and agricultural, coals, the vehicles…
New factory constructions develop: Building site of recovery of scrap including the old cars to be crushed, warehouses, household refuse, sand etc… The Seventies mark the apogee of the port. First oil port of France it is also a port polyvalent.
  • the current surface of the port is approximately 380 hectares divided into:
- 50 hectares represent the water levels with 2 channels and 6 wet docks from 660 to 800 meters of long.
- An industrial park of 220 hectares with stores and warehouses of companies
- 110 hectares devoted to the port activities and services various (safety, customs, firemen, handling, transport etc…
  • Since 2003 the port is in rehabilitation, change, a project of integration of harbor space at the east city in project and it is Odile Decq (small niece of Fulgence Bienvenue) which carries it out.

Geography

Located on the the Seine at Gennevilliers, it extends on 386 hectares which enable him to accommodate nearly 20 million tons of transit goods per annum. It is managed by the Port authority of Paris which manages several other ports in Ile-de-France on the Seine and its affluents (in particular the Oise).

Port activities

Its main activities are those of a commercial port. The port is an important terminal of delivery for the nonperishable semi-finished goods traffic, in deposit in the low-Seine (via the port of the Havre), but also for heavy materials conveyed by the French channels, and principal flows of goods are those of weighty, heavy materials with low added-value: sands, gravels (of construction or truck driver) and cements (first port cement-manufacturer of Europe), construction materials finished (metal frames), of packing (paper, pallets), or some dangerous chemical compounds (river traffic being definitely surer, less expensive, and less polluting for large volumes that road transport and even sometimes railway regularly saturated with Ile-de-France and unsuited to such transport).

The port is adapted to transport by river barges, but accepts more and more barges container ship (for the finished industrial products: electronic pieces of furniture, electrical materials and, etc), but also chimiquier transport, tanker and products of heating, and that more traditional of the cereals (large mills of Paris) and other nonperishable rough food products. Adaptations of the equipment are in hand to accept the refrigerating river transport (fishery, and processing industry products of the meat, fruit and vegetables) in co-operation with the national market of Rungis still too depend on the road traffic.

Gallery

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