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Annual ballets of trucks and diggers on the beaches of the Promenade des Anglais.
Until mid-April, new pebbles will be added and then distributed.
These are “recharging” or “fattening” operations on the beaches, to use technical terms.
Every year, with the currents and breaking waves, they lose some of the famous white stones.
Hasty, however, to conclude a link with the phenomenon of erosion that affects many coasts.
For ten years, topographical studies have been carried out on this stretch of coast.
80 control points are installed but the results are fluctuating.
To prevent the coastline from receding, the pebbles play an important role.
They protect the coastline and the Prom' by slowing down the power of the waves.
This year, 2000 m3 of pebbles will be added from Poincaré beach to Beau Rivage beach and 2000 to 3000 m3 from Carras towards Poincaré.
The locations of these pebble additions vary each year depending on the violence of the swells observed.
“Essential Operation”
The majority of these new pebbles come from the bed of the Paillon river.
The other pebbles are extracted from the Durance quarry.
They are a little whiter and more porous to the naked eye but will blend in with others over time.
"It's an essential operation for the beaches but also to protect everything behind it
," says Rémi Dumasdelage, head of the studies and works department at the Department of Port and Maritime Activities in the city.
The pebbles have the same use as a dike.
Swell phenomena are indeed the cause of these annual readjustments.
In addition to the usual one, with waves of just over a meter which can come to cover the beaches and hit the walls of the promenade, breaking waves of nearly three meters during storms can stir up the pebbles more.
In mid-January, some places on the beach were even bare.
But this is not an exceptional phenomenon, other pebbles lying under the apparent sand temporarily.
The waves remove pebbles and bring back others.
In this mix, some pebbles definitely go to the depths of the Baie des Anges.
This explains these reloading operations.
“Beyond a certain depth, the pebbles will no longer be able to return to the beaches
,” adds Rémi Dumasdelage.
There are very significant slopes offshore.
There is therefore no risk of cluttering the seabed of the Mare Nostrum.
This usual work since the 1960s is intended to prepare the beaches for the summer.
Even if the Côte d'Azur already enjoys the sun and mild temperatures at this time of year.
