Post 3. Penstock

This pipe was created at the same time as the Moiry dam, between 1954 and 1958 to bring water from the plant at Mottec to Le Biolec, situated at the top of the penstock and then to the power plant at Vissoie.

A hundred workers worked on this project day and night. During the construction period, three canteens were built to house and feed all the workers : at Le Biolec, halfway to La Combaz d’en bas( lower ), and at the Grand-Pont, at the plant in Vissoie. The transport of workers between Les Morands and Le Biolec was provided by a small train, called la platine. From Le Biolec, a wagon was used for the extraction of earth and stones and to transport workers in the tunnel.

The penstock marks the boundary between Les Morands and La Combaz. The path taken to this point was the old Vissoie-Ayer mule road.

A few meters from the penstock, after the turn above Les Morands, there was a shooting range that was used until the end of the 1970s. All military personnel had to practice firing once a year, under penalty of fines. The targets were placed uphill to the last chalet built at the top of Les Morands. Today, there is a shooting range for the whole valley, above Vissoie, on the road to Saint-Luc.

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Follow the road to the house of Communiers to the left of the road, just before the chapel.