Canal latéral à la Loire

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Canal latéral à la Loire
Water code FR :  K --- 0072
location France , regions Bourgogne-Franche-Comte , Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Center-Val de Loire
length 196 km
Built 1822-1838
class I ( Freycinet class )
Beginning Crossing from the Canal du Center at Digoin
The End It flows into the Canal de Briare at Briare
Descent structures 37
Ports Digoin , Dompierre-sur-Besbre , Decize , Nevers , Briare
Junctions, crossings Canal de Roanne à Digoin , Canal du Nivernais , formerly: Canal de Berry (NE section)
Used river Loire
Outstanding structures Briare Canal Bridge
Kilometrage in the direction of flow of the Loire
Downhill in the direction of flow of the Loire
Pont Canal de BRIARE.jpg
Briare canal bridge over the Loire
Branch of the Canal latéral à la Loire (left) from the Canal de Briare

The Canal latéral à la Loire (German: Loire-Seitenkanal ) is a shipping canal that runs in the French regions of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté , Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Center-Val de Loire . Together with the Canal du Loing , Canal de Briare and Canal du Center, it forms a chain of canals ( Route Bourbonnais ) that enables barges and pleasure craft to pass from the Seine to the Saône and on to the Mediterranean . Due to its construction, the seasonally unsafe use of the Loire River, which runs parallel to it, was initially reduced and finally completely dispensable for shipping .

Course and technical infrastructure

The canal begins in Digoin , where it connects to the Canal du Center . Then he crosses the Loire with the help of a canal bridge , where shortly afterwards the Canal de Roanne à Digoin joins from the left. It generally runs in a north-westerly direction and always keeps changing distance from the left bank of the Loire. Not until Briare does it cross the Loire again and a few kilometers later it flows into the Canal de Briare . Its total length is 196 kilometers.

It is a canal of the side canal type , which follows the course of the Loire without its own apex. The height difference of 98 meters is overcome with 37 locks . The locks are designed for ships of the standard size Freycinet . Several canal bridges were built to cross the Loire tributaries, the most famous being those of Digoin (across the Loire), Le Guétin (across the Allier ) and Briare (across the Loire).

Several branch channels connect the canal with important places or the river, where the ships can cross over to the Loire when the water level is suitable:

Coordinates

Crossed departments

Places on the canal

The old commercial port (Port de Commerce) of Briare is located directly on the canal bridge on the right bank of the Loire
Marseilles-lès-Aubigny harbor basin

history

The canal was built between 1822 and 1838. It ran from Briare to Chatillon-sur-Loire on the right of the Loire. However, it had difficult river passages, including a. at Châtillon-sur-Loire, where the crossing between the locks at Écluse No. 41 of the Mantelot and Écluse No. 42 des Combles took place. For this crossing, a crossing channel was created in the river with elaborate engineering structures. Due to the river crossings, shipping remained dependent and dangerous on the changing water flow of the Loire even after the later use of steam-powered cable winches. To solve this problem, Léonce-Abel Mazoyer built the canal bridges from 1890 to 1896 , and the canal on the left of the Loire to Chatillon-sur-Loire was built and at the same time rebuilt to the Freycinet standard. The operation of lock 41 ended in 1950.

Attractions

Digoin canal bridge over the Loire

The Briare Canal Bridge is a trough bridge with a length of 662.69 m and a width of 11.50 m (including the towpaths ). It was built between 1890 and 1896 as a riveted iron structure. It can accommodate ships with a draft of up to 2.2 m. For larger ships up to the Freycinet standard, passage is only possible without oncoming traffic.

The bridge was designed by chief engineer Léonce-Abel Mazoyer and the pilasters were designed by engineer Charles Sigault . During the construction work, Daydé & Pillé were responsible for the metal bridge panels, and Eiffel et Cie. involved in substructure and foundations. Therefore, the architecture of the bridge is often wrongly attributed to Gustave Eiffel . After its construction, the trough bridge was the largest in Europe for a whole century, until this position was taken over by the Magdeburg canal bridge .

Web links

Commons : Canal latéral à la Loire  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Briare Canal Bridge  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Voies Navigables, Canaux du Center , 1998, Editions Grafocarte publishing house ISBN 2-7416-0058-9

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The information on the length of the canal is based on the information on the Canal latéral à la Loire from SANDRE (French), accessed on February 21, 2020, rounded to full kilometers.

See also