The penstock pipe

It was in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that hydropower really came into its own in L'Argentière-la-Bessée. There was plenty of water flowing from the mountains here to generate electricity, at a time when electricity transmission - let alone diversion - technology had not yet been developed. This was achieved by digging out a number of tunnels and laying penstock pipes. Aluminium production became possible and so, too, did a fused quartz activity, making specialised glass for the chemicals industry.