Rampe de Laffrey
Encyclopedia
The Rampe de Laffrey is a section of France
's Route nationale 85, today called the Route Napoléon
, located in the department of Isère
between the communes
of Laffrey
and Vizille
, about fifteen kilometers southeast of Grenoble
. It is an extremely steep section of road, known for the high number of fatal automobile accidents which occur along its route; four of these, in 1946
, 1973
, 1975
, and 2007
, are counted among the deadliest in French history.
plateau
. It then goes downhill along the mountainside, passing as it does through the territory of Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage
and Notre-Dame-de-Mésage
, before veering to the right before the bridge over the Romanche
and entering the town of Vizille
at an altitude of 300 meters; between these two locations, 7.5 kilometers apart, the slope descends just over 600 meters. The road is only slightly sinuous
, but at its beginning contains many broad turns while remaining relatively stable near its end. Its steep slope is its most notable feature, averaging 12% along its lower portion and 16 to 18% in some places; just before the bridge at the Romanche it finishes with a 110° turn. As a consequence of its design, the road was used for testing Berliet
trucks until 1970. It was also used as a route for motorcycle
races beginning in 1960, and at one time was considered as a possibility for an Alpine
stage of the Tour de France
.
es, was considered too expensive and difficult to achieve. The road was widened, and portions were expanded to three lane
s near the summit. A strict prohibition was enforced, altogether banning vehicles which weigh more than eight ton
s and forbidding buses, except on local and regular routes, from using the road without authorization from the local prefect. Local and regular service is only allowed on specially-designed vehicles with speed-reducers. Buses and trucks coming from the regular route must turn off at La Mure
and take secondary road 529 past the massif
of Conest towards Grenoble. Still, many violations of the rule have been noted. To discourage drivers, a sign with a skull
with flickering eyes was formerly installed at the top of the road; this, however, was soon removed because it was viewed in poor taste and as politically incorrect
.
François Fillon
held a press conference to announce a series of measures to prevent such a heavy vehicle from attempting the descent again. Flashing signs were to be installed, as were speed bump
s as high as the former signs at the location. At the end of September special gantries
were also to have been placed, preventing the entry of vehicles over a certain height. A barrier was also planned, containing a magnetic card designed to recognize only certain service vehicles that are authorized to use the road. However, as of January, 2008, no gantries had been placed at the site, and only a few of the signs were ready for use. Furthermore, there is a good deal of evidence to indicate that unauthorized vehicles still use the road.
in 1951
and has since featured 8 times, most recently in 2010
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's Route nationale 85, today called the Route Napoléon
Route Napoléon
Route Napoléon is the route taken by Napoléon in 1815 on his return from Elba. It is now a 325-kilometre section of the Route nationale 85.The route begins at Golfe-Juan, where Napoleon disembarked 1 March 1815, beginning the Hundred Days that ended at Waterloo. The road was inaugurated in 1932; it...
, located in the department of Isère
Isère
Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...
between the communes
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Laffrey
Laffrey
Laffrey is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.- See also :* Communes of the Isère department* Rampe de Laffrey* Grand lac de Laffrey* Route Napoléon...
and Vizille
Vizille
Vizille is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.Vizille is home to the Musée de la Révolution Française de Vizille, a rich depository of archival and rare materials devoted to the French Revolution, housed since 1984 in the Château de Vizille, a Monument Historique. The library...
, about fifteen kilometers southeast of Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
. It is an extremely steep section of road, known for the high number of fatal automobile accidents which occur along its route; four of these, in 1946
Accident on the Rampe de Laffrey (1946)
The 1946 accident on the Rampe de Laffrey was the first in a string of fatal accidents along a stretch of road which has been claimed as one of the deadliest in France...
, 1973
Accident on the Rampe de Laffrey (1973)
The accident on the Rampe de Laffrey on July 18, 1973 remains, , the worst to ever have occurred along that stretch of roadway, among the worst in France...
, 1975
Accident on the Rampe de Laffrey (1975)
In an accident on the Rampe de Laffrey on April 2, 1975, 29 pilgrims from Sully-sur-Loire in Loiret were killed when their bus lost its brakes at the bottom of the road, causing it to fly over a ravine at a speed estimated at 120 kilometers an hour; it then crashed into a garden and overturned...
, and 2007
Accident on the Rampe de Laffrey (2007)
The accident on the Rampe de Laffrey on July 22, 2007, was one of the most serious accidents to occur along a stretch of road widely considered among the worst in France. 26 Polish pilgrims were killed when their bus flew off the road and into a ravine near the town of Vizille...
, are counted among the deadliest in French history.
Design of the ramp
The slope begins in the center of the village of Laffrey at a height of 910 meters, right on the edge of the MatheysineMatheysine
Matheysine is a French Natural region located in the Alps at the south of the Isère département. Its relief is a plateau surroundered by mountains. Matheysine is also called Plateau Matheysin.-Geography:...
plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
. It then goes downhill along the mountainside, passing as it does through the territory of Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage
Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage
Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage is located next to the mountain of Connex and between the Vercors and Taillefer. Near Vizille and Grenoble....
and Notre-Dame-de-Mésage
Notre-Dame-de-Mésage
Notre-Dame-de-Mésage is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Isère department...
, before veering to the right before the bridge over the Romanche
Romanche
The Romanche is a 78 km long mountain river in southeastern France, right tributary of the Drac . Its source is in the northern part of the Massif des Écrins, Dauphiné Alps. It flows into the Drac in Champ-sur-Drac, south of Grenoble. The road from Grenoble to Briançon over the Col du Lautaret runs...
and entering the town of Vizille
Vizille
Vizille is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.Vizille is home to the Musée de la Révolution Française de Vizille, a rich depository of archival and rare materials devoted to the French Revolution, housed since 1984 in the Château de Vizille, a Monument Historique. The library...
at an altitude of 300 meters; between these two locations, 7.5 kilometers apart, the slope descends just over 600 meters. The road is only slightly sinuous
Sinuous
Sinuous is a fictional snake from the third season of the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books of the same name by author Colin Dann....
, but at its beginning contains many broad turns while remaining relatively stable near its end. Its steep slope is its most notable feature, averaging 12% along its lower portion and 16 to 18% in some places; just before the bridge at the Romanche it finishes with a 110° turn. As a consequence of its design, the road was used for testing Berliet
Berliet
Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, buses, trucks and other utility vehicles, based in Vénissieux, outside of Lyon, France.-Early history:...
trucks until 1970. It was also used as a route for motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
races beginning in 1960, and at one time was considered as a possibility for an Alpine
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
stage of the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
.
Reconfiguration to July 2007
After a pair of accidents in the 1970s, heavy work was done on the route to make it more suitable for light vehicles, as reconfiguration for load-bearing vehicles, and for busBus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es, was considered too expensive and difficult to achieve. The road was widened, and portions were expanded to three lane
Lane
A lane is a part of the roadway within a road marked out for use by a single line of vehicles in such a way as to control and guide drivers for the purpose of reducing traffic conflicts. Most public roads have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by Lane markings...
s near the summit. A strict prohibition was enforced, altogether banning vehicles which weigh more than eight ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s and forbidding buses, except on local and regular routes, from using the road without authorization from the local prefect. Local and regular service is only allowed on specially-designed vehicles with speed-reducers. Buses and trucks coming from the regular route must turn off at La Mure
La Mure
La Mure is a commune in the Isère département in south-eastern France.It is located south of Grenoble on the plateau Matheysin.-Neighbour communes:* Prunières* Sousville* Susville* Ponsonnas* Pierre-Châtel* Saint-Honoré-Main sights:...
and take secondary road 529 past the massif
Massif
In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
of Conest towards Grenoble. Still, many violations of the rule have been noted. To discourage drivers, a sign with a skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
with flickering eyes was formerly installed at the top of the road; this, however, was soon removed because it was viewed in poor taste and as politically incorrect
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
.
Modifications after the accident of July 22, 2007
On July 25, 2007, as a result of the most recent accident on the ramp, French Prime MinisterPrime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
François Fillon
François Fillon
François Charles Armand Fillon is the Prime Minister of France. He was appointed to that office by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 17 May 2007. He served initially until 13 November 2010 when he resigned from being prime minister before a planned cabinet reshuffle.On 14 November 2010, Sarkozy...
held a press conference to announce a series of measures to prevent such a heavy vehicle from attempting the descent again. Flashing signs were to be installed, as were speed bump
Speed bump
A speed bump is a speed-reducing feature of road design to slow traffic or reduce through traffic, via...
s as high as the former signs at the location. At the end of September special gantries
Gantry (road sign)
A gantry is a traffic sign assembly in which signs are mounted on an overhead support, or railway signals supported....
were also to have been placed, preventing the entry of vehicles over a certain height. A barrier was also planned, containing a magnetic card designed to recognize only certain service vehicles that are authorized to use the road. However, as of January, 2008, no gantries had been placed at the site, and only a few of the signs were ready for use. Furthermore, there is a good deal of evidence to indicate that unauthorized vehicles still use the road.
Accidents
Many accidents have taken place along this stretch of road; between 1946 and 2007, at least 150 deaths were recorded at the site. It is the deadliest portion of roadway anywhere in France.- In 1946, a bus transporting pilgrims from Our Lady of La SaletteOur Lady of La SaletteLa Salette is a small mountaintop village near Grenoble, France. It is most noted for an apparition of the Virgin Mary that was reported in 1846 by two shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, followed by numerous accounts of miraculous healings....
crashed into a ravineAccident on the Rampe de Laffrey (1946)The 1946 accident on the Rampe de Laffrey was the first in a string of fatal accidents along a stretch of road which has been claimed as one of the deadliest in France...
, killing 18; today a memorial to the dead stands along the roadside near Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage. - In 1956, a DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
bus suffered the same fate at the same place; seven were killed. - In 1968, a truckTruckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
flew off the road, killing its two occupants. - In 1970, another bus transporting pilgrimPilgrimA pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s flew over several walls before coming to a stop; five passengers, from Nord, were killed. The cause of this accident was later determined to be excessive speed. - Another bus full of pilgrims, returning again from Our Lady of La Salette, crashed near the baseAccident on the Rampe de Laffrey (1973)The accident on the Rampe de Laffrey on July 18, 1973 remains, , the worst to ever have occurred along that stretch of roadway, among the worst in France...
of the road in 1973; 43 BelgianBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
s were killed. - In 1974, a truck without brakeBrakeA brake is a mechanical device which inhibits motion. Its opposite component is a clutch. The rest of this article is dedicated to various types of vehicular brakes....
s hit a car, killing four. - Another bus returning from Our Lady of La Salette crashed near the baseAccident on the Rampe de Laffrey (1975)In an accident on the Rampe de Laffrey on April 2, 1975, 29 pilgrims from Sully-sur-Loire in Loiret were killed when their bus lost its brakes at the bottom of the road, causing it to fly over a ravine at a speed estimated at 120 kilometers an hour; it then crashed into a garden and overturned...
of the road in 1975, in the same location as the previous bus; 29 were killed. - In 2007, yet another bus full of pilgrims crashed on the roadAccident on the Rampe de Laffrey (2007)The accident on the Rampe de Laffrey on July 22, 2007, was one of the most serious accidents to occur along a stretch of road widely considered among the worst in France. 26 Polish pilgrims were killed when their bus flew off the road and into a ravine near the town of Vizille...
, killing 26.
Appearances in Tour de France
The section was first included in the Tour de FranceTour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
in 1951
1951 Tour de France
The 1951 Tour de France was the 38th Tour de France, taking place from July 4 to July 29, 1951. It consisted of 24 stages over 4690 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.949 km/h....
and has since featured 8 times, most recently in 2010
2010 Tour de France
The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996...
.
| Year | Stage | Category | Leader at the summit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 2010 Tour de France The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996... |
10 | 1 | |
| 1989 1989 Tour de France The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th Tour de France, a race of 21 stages and a prologue, over 3285 km in total. In the closest tour in history, Greg LeMond was behind by 50 seconds at the start of the final stage, a time trial into Paris. LeMond rode for an average speed of 54.55 km/h ,... |
18 | 2 | |
| 1987 1987 Tour de France The 1987 Tour de France was the 74th Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 26, 1987. It consisted of 25 stages over 4231 km, ridden at an average speed of 36.645 km/h... |
20 | 1 | |
| 1984 1984 Tour de France The 1984 Tour de France was the 71st Tour de France, run over 4020.9 km in 23 stages and a prologue, from 29 June to 22 July 1984.French rider Laurent Fignon won his second consecutive Tour, beating former teammate Bernard Hinault by over 10 minutes. Hinault was pursuing his fifth Tour... |
17 | 1 | |
| 1971 1971 Tour de France The 1971 Tour de France was the 58th Tour de France, taking place June 26 to July 18, 1971. It consisted of 22 stages over , ridden at an average speed of .... |
11 | 2 | |
| 1970 1970 Tour de France The 1970 Tour de France was the 57th Tour de France, taking place June 27 to July 19, 1970. It consisted of 23 stages over 4366 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.589 km/h.... |
13 | 2 | |
| 1954 1954 Tour de France The 1954 Tour de France was the 41st Tour de France, taking place from July 8 to August 1, 1954. It consisted of 23 stages over 4656 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.229 km/h.... |
18 | 2 | |
| 1951 1951 Tour de France The 1951 Tour de France was the 38th Tour de France, taking place from July 4 to July 29, 1951. It consisted of 24 stages over 4690 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.949 km/h.... |
21 | 2 |