There is great excitement in Brittany, France, around a lighthouse that is the pride of the region. The most important of the 52 lighthouses on the Brittany coast, the Créac’h lighthouse, will lose its shine for health and environmental reasons.
The prefecture of the Finistère department announced a few days ago that because mercury, which is harmful to health, is still used for the lighting optics in the lighthouse – as was previously the case – it is necessary to switch to an alternative, modern lighting technology .
In concrete terms, the maritime administration plans to degrade the lighthouse, which was built in 1863 and has a range of 59 kilometers, according to the initiators of the petition “Save the lighthouse of Créac’h”, which has already been voted by more than 10,000 people signed within a few days, are outraged.
“Shipping in danger”
In place of the large historic beacon, a smaller beacon would be placed with a range of only 35 kilometers; in poor visibility the range would be only 3.7 kilometers. It is said that shipping on the island of Ushant, where the tower is located, is in danger. 54,000 ships pass the island every year.
The friends of the lighthouse are also concerned about the unique technology: “The costly installation of an industrial lamp would mean mutilating the existing lamp, a historic object that was exhibited at the 1937 Universal Exhibition in Paris and whose efficiency still remains is unsurpassed. As usual with lighthouses, the rotating optics of the Créac’h lighthouse used to float on a tank of mercury.
The authorities want to talk to the population
“The most powerful lighthouse in Europe, the most prestigious and important given the function of its all-powerful beacon for decades, is in danger of being turned into a tourist attraction, affecting all the sailors of the world, the inhabitants of Ushant and the coast,” he said angrily, former lighthouse keeper Louis Cozan, as the newspaper “Le Parisien” reported. Because of the protests, the department board has promised to talk to the population.
Source: Krone
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