The Toulouse war memorial will be moved on wheels, a first in France
It is a colossal project that will be carried out in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), in 2023. The city’s war memorial, classified as a historical monument, will be moved a few meters as part of the work on a third line metro, indicates France Blue Occitanie . A first in France according to Tisséo Ingénierie, which is carrying out the work.
Installed on the François-Verdier alleys since 1928, the building will have to move so that the workers dig a new metro station, 45 meters deep, specifies 20 minutes . This decision was awarded after studying three scenarios: leaving the monument in place and working around it, dismantling it piece by piece and finally moving it in one piece.
15 meters high and more than 1,000 tons
It is therefore this third option that has been chosen: “We are going to create a metal structure (a steel and wooden exoskeleton) which will pinch the monument, weigh it with jacks”to explain France Blue Jean-François Lacroux, Managing Director of Tisséo Ingénierie. The war memorial, which is 15 meters high and weighs more than 1,000 tons, will then be placed on a kind of wheeled chariot.
The structure will pivot 90 degrees to be transported a few meters longer, between two paths of plane trees. This major operation will begin in early 2023 for a move in the summer. The monument to the dead will return to its original place, “to the nearest centimeter” promises Tisséo to our colleagues in 2027. The third metro line will be selected in Toulouse in 2028, indicates France Blue.