DÉCINES-CHARPIEU, GRAND LARGE & CANAL DE JONAGE

Yesterday, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma visited Décines-Charpieu, the town where the Groupama Stadium is located. 

They were accompanied by The Little Prince and Antoine, two old friends.

They visited an impressive place called Grand Large, where they sailed by boat along the Jonage Canal and enjoyed wonderful natural views. 

On the way back, they rode by bike and discovered a fantastic route to finish off tasting some incredible ice cream in a wonderful natural setting. It was a very nice last activity before heading to Lyon airport where the flight to Barcelona was waiting for them. 

It is the third time in the last month that they have visited this wonderful region, but they know that it will not be the last because they have someone very important here who they will visit whenever they have the chance.

Décines-Charpieu is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central-eastern France. The name of the city is often shortened and simply called Décines.

The centre of Décines is located southwest of the Grand-Large reservoir. The commune is divided in two by the Canal de Jonage, a deviation of the Rhône, on which the reservoir was formed. 

The centre of Lyon is located 12 km west. The surrounding communes are Chassieu, Bron, Vaulx-en-Velin and Meyzieu.

Décines-Charpieu left the department of Isère and joined the department of Rhône on 21 February 1968 to become a member of the Urban Community of Lyon per 1 January 1969. On 1 January 2015, it administratively left the department of Rhône to join the newly-formed Metropolis of Lyon.

Décines-Charpieu is served by Lyon tramway Lines 3 and 7.

More information: Ville de Décines-Charpieu

The Grand-Large reservoir, commonly called Le Grand Large, is an artificial lake along the Jonage Canal, a lake shared between the French communes of Décines-Charpieu and Meyzieu, in eastern Lyon.

The Jonage Canal was built using a dike along the hillside.

Near Décines-Charpieu and Meyzieu, the dike extends away from the hillside to create the Grand-Large Reservoir, which contains a large water reserve for the Cusset hydroelectric power plant in Villeurbanne.

The Société lyonnaise des forces motrices du Rhône was formed following a concession application granted on July 9, 1892, for the 19-kilometer-long Jonage Canal, which supplies the Cusset hydroelectric power plant. Between 1892 and 1899, the vocation of the upper Rhône shifted to electricity generation: the Jonage Canal was dug with the Grand Large, on the Vaulx-en-Velin side, to supply water to the Cusset plant, which was then the most powerful hydroelectric power plant in Europe. The unsinkable dike along Boulevard Laurent Bonnevay was built.

More information: Visitons Lyon

The Jonage Canal, commissioned in 1897, is the prototype for hydroelectric development on the Rhône, a model that would be adopted downstream of Lyon, taking into account the threefold imperative of electricity production, navigation, and river regulation.

Its average depth is 1.6 m, with a maximum depth of 3.7 m.

The Jonage Canal is a diversion of the Rhône River built to supply the Cusset hydroelectric plant in Villeurbanne, as well as to ensure the continuity of navigation upstream from Lyon.

The Vieux Rhône flows into the canal in the Vaulx-en-Velin area before it re-merges with the Rhône, joining the Miribel Canal on the border between Vaulx-en-Velin and Villeurbanne.

The Jonage Canal is an example of hydroelectric developments on the Rhône. Construction began in 1894 and was completed in 1899. The project had a threefold objective: to generate electricity for mass electrification, to improve navigation, and to supply water. Up to 3,000 people worked on this project.

It was built using a dike on the hillside in the municipalities of Jonage, Meyzieu, Décines-Charpieu, Vaulx-en-Velin, and Villeurbanne. Its construction disrupted the natural course of the Rize River. Its maximum flow rate during floods was 2,500 m3/s. The canal was 18.850 km long.

In its middle, the dike moves away from the hill to create the Grand Large basin, which was originally intended to serve as a compensating basin. It regulates the volume of water downstream to ensure the operation of the Cusset hydroelectric plant. The Herbens spillway evacuates water in the event of overflow.

More information: All Trails

I thank you God for this most amazing day, 
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, 
and for the blue dream of sky 
and for everything which is natural, 
which is infinite, which is yes.

E. E. Cummings