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POINT-DE- GRA VE. 493
should be raised to oppose the billows; this was to commence at the
southern extremity of the bay, and to stretch across to the north, joining the immovable rocks of Saint Nicholas. In front of this rampart,
cubic masses of concrete weighing several tons each were thrown down,
so as to form a kind of gentle slope, the length of which was equal to ten
times the height of the breakwater. Added to this, the wicker-work embankments, being threatened by the incessant burrowing of the teredo,
were gradually replaced by strong dikes in stone-work. The ocean has
not as yet broken through this last barrier, and hopes may be entertained
that henceforth the same respect may be shown toward it. Nevertheless,
the waves seem inveterate for the destruction of the obstacle which restrains them, and use, in turn, both force and stratagem to attain their
end. They displace the blocks of concrete, they sweep away the sand,
they make crevices in the masonry, and, pushing forward in every direction their labors of sapping and mining, they untwist the fascines so carefully bound together, and sometimes leap over the construction itself, and
boldly attack the shore beyond.
At Point-de-Grave the conflict between the sea and human power was
scarcely less sharp. On that portion of the sea-coast which stretches
away for a mile and three-quarters to the south ofthe cape, fourteen jetties, similar to those adopted in the bay of Huttes, were pushed out into
the sea. At the point itself, instead ofthe jetty, there is-substituted an
embankment running out 400 feet, composed of natural and artificial blocks
of stone dropped down into the water from trucks. The extremity ofthe
embankment, which is under water, is prolonged for some distance by
heaping up rocks, which are dropped from small vessels when the weather
«is favorable. So great, however, is the violence of the waves, that these
rocks, weighing on the average two tons each, are very frequently shifted
by the meeting of the ebb and flow of the tide, and are drifted out into
the offing. When subjected to the shock of the waves, the embankment
itself has sometimes cracked here and there across its whole width, and
the workmen are from time to time obliged to reconstruct the slope, to
fill up the cracks with stone-work, and to consolidate the blocks of stone
whose equilibrium is threatened. Sometimes, also, the water hollows out
caverns under the rocks at the base; it is then necessary to go down at
low tide in order to stop up the excavations, to strengthen the approaches,
and to prevent the advance of the enemy.
As if enraged at the insurmountable obstacle opposed to it by the pow
erful breakwaters at the point, the sea has spent its fury on the tongue
of sand which extends behind the jetty. Attacking the bank on the rear,
the waves incessantly increased the small bay of the fort in the direction
ofthe river, and between 1844 and 1854, while the sea-coast remained almost in a stationary condition, that which faced the Gironde receded 1600
feet — that is to say, 160 feet a year. A few years more, and the dwindled peninsula would have been completely broken through, the lighthouse and the other buildings would have been swept away, and the
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000544 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | POINT-DE- GRA VE. 493 should be raised to oppose the billows; this was to commence at the southern extremity of the bay, and to stretch across to the north, joining the immovable rocks of Saint Nicholas. In front of this rampart, cubic masses of concrete weighing several tons each were thrown down, so as to form a kind of gentle slope, the length of which was equal to ten times the height of the breakwater. Added to this, the wicker-work embankments, being threatened by the incessant burrowing of the teredo, were gradually replaced by strong dikes in stone-work. The ocean has not as yet broken through this last barrier, and hopes may be entertained that henceforth the same respect may be shown toward it. Nevertheless, the waves seem inveterate for the destruction of the obstacle which restrains them, and use, in turn, both force and stratagem to attain their end. They displace the blocks of concrete, they sweep away the sand, they make crevices in the masonry, and, pushing forward in every direction their labors of sapping and mining, they untwist the fascines so carefully bound together, and sometimes leap over the construction itself, and boldly attack the shore beyond. At Point-de-Grave the conflict between the sea and human power was scarcely less sharp. On that portion of the sea-coast which stretches away for a mile and three-quarters to the south ofthe cape, fourteen jetties, similar to those adopted in the bay of Huttes, were pushed out into the sea. At the point itself, instead ofthe jetty, there is-substituted an embankment running out 400 feet, composed of natural and artificial blocks of stone dropped down into the water from trucks. The extremity ofthe embankment, which is under water, is prolonged for some distance by heaping up rocks, which are dropped from small vessels when the weather «is favorable. So great, however, is the violence of the waves, that these rocks, weighing on the average two tons each, are very frequently shifted by the meeting of the ebb and flow of the tide, and are drifted out into the offing. When subjected to the shock of the waves, the embankment itself has sometimes cracked here and there across its whole width, and the workmen are from time to time obliged to reconstruct the slope, to fill up the cracks with stone-work, and to consolidate the blocks of stone whose equilibrium is threatened. Sometimes, also, the water hollows out caverns under the rocks at the base; it is then necessary to go down at low tide in order to stop up the excavations, to strengthen the approaches, and to prevent the advance of the enemy. As if enraged at the insurmountable obstacle opposed to it by the pow erful breakwaters at the point, the sea has spent its fury on the tongue of sand which extends behind the jetty. Attacking the bank on the rear, the waves incessantly increased the small bay of the fort in the direction ofthe river, and between 1844 and 1854, while the sea-coast remained almost in a stationary condition, that which faced the Gironde receded 1600 feet — that is to say, 160 feet a year. A few years more, and the dwindled peninsula would have been completely broken through, the lighthouse and the other buildings would have been swept away, and the |
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