The future of the port of Saint-Nazaire was at stake at the end of the 19th century.
The large ocean liners of the Transatlantic General Company, which provided lines with Central America, warships, coal ships and other goods, were finding it increasingly difficult to enter the port inaugurated in 1857. The first lock became too narrow and especially the access to the basins could only be made at high tide.
The city of Saint-Nazaire mobilized its great engineers, its politicians, its powerful shipowners to obtain the opening of a new entrance.
The work was titanic. The construction of two jetties, the excavation of the lock and the evacuation of the debris, the installation of the airlock doors and the installation of two bridges were a non-standard project for 10 years. The old Saint-Nazaire district (later called Petit Maroc) was cut in half.
The inauguration of the new entrance from 21 to 23 September 1907 was commensurate with the gigantism of the works: grandiose and unforgettable. A party to match the event.
The Nazairian port could face the 20th century confidently. It was able to host the landing of American troops during the First World War. However, a few decades later, the gigantism of the liners again requires the adaptation of its infrastructures: it was the construction of the Joubert form. Rapid progress in international trade and the consequences of World War II with the central position of an underwater base will gradually marginalize its deep-water port. However, thanks to this entrance, the Nazairian port has a future potential.
The colossal work for the new entrance and its magnificent inauguration must remain part of our collective memory.