Signature of an administrative arrangement for the works on
the border at Apach.
VIDEO 1
Jean Philippe MORETAU – North-Eastern Interregional Director of VNF
First of all, I would like to welcome you aboard this boat and thank you for coming today. I
am very glad to welcome you aboard this boat so that we can formalise the signature of
the Apach administrative arrangement. This is an important document as regards
management of the work and it is therefore with great pleasure that I will happily join with
you today in going ahead with this signing ceremony. In the afternoon, you will be taken on
a tour of the works, the lock and the dam so that you can see how the installations look. I
also suggest that we go out on to the dam wall to see what this impressive construction
consists of and the ceremony will end at that time.
Frédéric Marchal – Manager of the Maintenance Division at UTI Moselle.
The role of these sluices: the flap gate is used to regulate the water levels and sluices 1 &
2, the Tainter gates, are used to drain heavy flows.
The plant is mixed; we therefore recover 50% of the plant's water-use charge.
VIDEO 2
Addresses by the representatives from Luxembourg and Germany
Joachim Gärhs – Director of Wasser-und-Schiffahrtsamt Trier, Germany.
- I would also like to thank you for your invitation to say a few words. I had, in fact, planned
to do so after the signing ceremony but I am assuming that it will pass off without a hitch.
So I think that I can speak straight away. I am truly very pleased about the fact that, today,
after 8 years of negotiations, we have been able to come to a happy conclusion of these
negotiations. I thank VNF for having provided this very worthy setting for such a signing
ceremony and Mrs Bruckner and the entire Moselle commission team for its work.
Georges Molitor – Director of the Structural Engineering Commission
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
- I am particularly delighted to be here today. It reminds me of my work at the Moselle
commission and the navigable channel for which I was responsible for around 6 or 7
years.
I also wanted to tell you why there are two signatories for the Grand Duchy. Since the last
election, we have created a very large ministry which combines four former ministries: the
Ministry of Transport, Public Works, Territorial Development and the Environment. It's
practically the same as in France, but the delegation of signatures dates from before.
This is why I am signing on behalf of the new Ministry and Mr Mertel on behalf of the
former Ministry. It's a very particular situation which makes this agreement a little special.
Max NILLES – Government representative at the Ministry of Sustainable
Development and Infrastructures of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
- We have here before us today one piece of a puzzle. I checked as recently as yesterday
that the decision of the Moselle commission, which is in the Luxembourg and French
section, is actually included in the memorandum. The puzzle will therefore be completed
today. I am delighted at this for it will give France, Luxembourg and Germany the legal
certainty we need and which we have recreated in the spirit of a former time and the
Moselle agreement of 1956. We have demonstrated that we are capable, even though it
may have taken quite some time, of coming to an arrangement that respects this spirit.
VIDEO 3
Description of the operation of the dam by Frédéric Marchal (Manager of the
Maintenance Division at UTI Moselle).
Frédéric MARCHAL – Manager of the Maintenance Division at UTI Moselle
- The dam has 3 sluices. Two Tainter gates, numbers 1 and 2 on the Luxembourg side,
and the flap gate, where we are here. The flap gate is used to regulate the water level and
the Tainter gates (1 and 2) are used to drain heavy flows. The primary sluice, which
operates most frequently in terms of the regulation and functioning of the water body, is
the flap gate. In association with the hydroelectric plant… which is on the left bank, which
regulates up to 150 cubic metres of the water body. Above this quantity, the dam takes
over. Each sluice is operated by winches, one on each side of the sluice. It is connected to
the sluice by a large chain, like a bicycle chain but a little bigger. The dam is controlled
automatically by the cabinets behind us and faults and the waterline are monitored by a
monitoring station, which is located in Clévant, close to Nancy.