The Jarrauds waterfall discovery trail

3 points of interest

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  Renewable energies

  The Maulde, context and use

  The Maulde is a river that originates in the Creuse. Access to the waterfall is in a wooded environment dotted with more or less visible boulders. The houses at the end of the path were once an old water mill (private property). The power of the water was then used to make flour. This river is used for electricity production in many places (Vassivière dams, Jarrauds micro-power station...). Further on, you will cross a diversion canal built in 1984 to generate electricity.

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  Geological interest

  The formation of a waterfall

  The formation of the current landscape is the result of several million years of geological movements and erosion phenomena. The alternation of freeze/thaw periods in the Quaternary era favoured the hollowing out of valleys; the hardest rocks remained, while the softest were eroded away by water. Which is how this waterfall was born, and erosion continues to sculpt the rocks. You will notice that the rocks near the waterfall have round or ovoid depressions called cupmarks or pots.

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  Expertise

  The story of the electrification of Bourganeuf

  Following demonstrations, in 1885, the town of Bourganeuf signed an agreement with an engineer from Paris, Ernest Lamy, to provide public lighting for the town. The use of the waters of the Mourne being unsatisfactory, this engineer undertook the transport of electricity over 14 km by connecting the Jarrauds site to Bourganeuf in 1888-1889, which was a real achievement at the time. From being the third French town to be fully electrified, it became one of the first towns in Europe to receive direct current electricity with a remote production site.