Hiking trail: Tail of the Crescent lake

Near Les Creusées, the Crescent dam was built between 1929 and 1932. This gravity dam is 330 m long, 37 m high, 24 m wide at the base and 3.50 m wide at the crest. An initiative of SA Compagnie HydroElectrique de la Cure and owned by the City of Paris until 1946, the dam was built to regulate the waters of the Yonne and Seine rivers and thus prevent flooding in Paris, while also producing electricity. 165 hectares of cultivated land, hamlets, mills and roads were flooded to create the reservoir (max. 40m deep), which covers four communes and two départements, and is fed by the Cure and Chalaux rivers. The structure was partly financed as war reparations owed by Germany to France following the First World War. This is why a large part of the dam's mechanisms are of German manufacture. No fewer than 250 workers were involved in its construction, most of them from Portugal, but also from the local population (particularly from the hamlet of Rue Perrin, according to a local source). The Ballot company was responsible for the construction. In 1946, full management of the dam was transferred to the EDF network. In 2001, EDF installed a third spillway to ensure the safety of the dam and local residents. This work was again carried out by the Ballot company. Today, in addition to its functions of regulating the Seine and producing electricity, the dam plays an important leisure role, releasing water for kayaking, fishing, tourism and family walks along the lake...