Men at Work
In December 1991 a Waste Act was promulgated in France. Its first article stipulates that the management of high-level and long-lived radioactive wastes must be ensured, guaranteeing respect for the protection of nature, environment and health, taking into consideration the rights of future generations.
In the framework of the mission entrusted upon ANDRA by this Waste Act, ANDRA, the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency, built an underground laboratory at a depth of 490m in the region of Meuse and Haute-Marne in eastern France, to assess the feasibility of a deep geological disposal in a clay formation.
In 1995 and 1996 I was assigned by ANDRA to photograph an extensive scientific experiment program carried out in three regions of France in order to identify the appropriate geological formation for the installation of the underground laboratory, notably through geological surveys, boreholes and seismic campaigns.
The teamwork, carried out by engineers, technicians and scientists engaged in highly complex tasks, roused my sensibility as a photographer.
Through these images, I have attempted to convey the complexity and human dimension of their activities. This work was published by Andra in a book entitled Des Hommes de temps, la Mémoire des roches.
Descent of a probe in a borehole.
Drilling platform.
Drilling rig and drill pipes.
Hydraulic wrench operator.
Cutting open a core pipe to retrieve a core from the Cenomanian period (90 million years).
Retrieval of a core pipe.
Installation of an injector head for hydrogeological measurements.
Preparation of a hydrogeological test device.
Manoeuvring on a drilling platform.
Disconnection of an injector head.
Tea time for a British operator.
Control box and flowers of the meadow.
Hydrogeological engineer.
Hydrogeological engineer.
Slanting borehole.
Monitoring the anchoring of a drilling pipe at the bottom of a borehole.
Installation of a monitoring station.
Probe for scientific measurements in a deep borehole.
Engineer preparing scientific measurements in a borehole.
Swabbing of borehole water.
Retrieval of a drill pipe.
Extraction of a core from the Callovo-Oxfordian period (150 million years).
Geologist measuring a granite core sample.
Core sample storage.
Drill head.
Drill head.
