The rivers Gard, Herault and Vidourle which go down very rapidly from the Cevennes into the Mediterranean sea, between very steep slopes, are particulary able to transport débris as a consequence of their very big floods. Nevertheless, during the floods of the autumn 1958, which were of a bi- or tricentenial frequency, only the loams, clays and sands were able to reach the sea during the flood. Shingle was transported in great quantities but only upon short distances, of no; more than 2 or 3 km. Even in such torrents, the transport of shingle is very long, and the greater part of the shingle actually present in the river bed was swept out from the foot of the slopes during the last cold period of the Quaternary, under periglacial conditions. The construction of a dam, at the Moulin de Bertrand in the Hérault valley, which does not allow the transit of shingle, did not result in the modifications in the conditions of transport of the pebbles downstream: the pebbles which are presently transported do not come from the upper valley, but are reworked from the accumulations built up in the bed before the construction of the dam.