Boat lifts on the Belgian Canal du Center
Map with all coordinates: | The four boat lifts of the Canal du Center | |
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UNESCO world heritage 
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| National territory: |
 Belgium
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| Type: | Culture |
| Criteria : | (iii), (iv) |
| Surface: | 67.3436 ha |
| Buffer zone: | 538.8133 ha |
| Reference No .: | 856 |
| UNESCO region : | Europe and North America |
| History of enrollment | |
| Enrollment: | 1998 (session 22) |
The four hydraulic boat lifts of the Canal du Center in Belgium were built between 1882 and 1917 and were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998. They are still largely in their original condition. Since 2002, cargo shipping has no longer been using the old lifts, but rather the new lift from Strépy-Thieu .
history
Planning and construction
In 1802 Napoléon I decided to build a canal from Brussels to Charleroi to the coal mines there in what was then part of France, what is now the Kingdom of Belgium . This canal was completed in 1832, two years after Belgium gained independence. In the second half of the 19th century, plans were made to connect this Charleroi-Brussels canal with the Canal de Mons à Condé, which opened in 1817 , to enable inland navigation to cross the watershed between the Meuse and the Scheldt . The new canal was later called Canal du Center .
The problem arose of overcoming a level difference of 66 meters between Thieu and Houdeng-Goegnies at a distance of just under seven kilometers. At the same time, there were not enough natural watercourses on the Charleroi plateau to enable locks to be used. In 1875, however, a building went into operation in England, the technical principle of which made a solution to this problem appear possible, the Anderton ship lift . Compared to a sluice, this elevator was able to move ships over a height difference of around 15 meters with extremely low water loss. The hydraulic engineer responsible for the construction of the Anderton lift, Edwin Clark , presented a plan in 1879 to overcome the height difference on the Thieu-Houdeng section with the help of several ship lifts that worked on the same principle as Anderton.
In 1882 the Belgian government approved this plan. It provided for four hoists of roughly the same dimensions: the - highest - hoist No. 1 in Houdeng-Goegnies with a lifting height of 15.397 m, No. 2 in Houdeng-Aimeries of 16.934 m and No. 3 in Bracquegnies and No. 4 in Thieu with 16.933 m each.
Opening of the first elevator
Lift No. 1 was ceremoniously opened on June 4, 1888 by the Belgian King Leopold II . Subsequently, however, in view of the high cost of building the ship lifts, heated debates broke out about the profitability of the project. It was therefore not until 1894 that the masonry work on the three other lifts could be completed. The further construction was delayed until 1910.
Opening of the canal
A few days after the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Germans invaded Belgium. The German occupying power considered the canal to be strategically important, which is why they ordered it to be continued. In 1917 - this time without any festivities due to the war - the other three lifts could be put into operation, making the entire length of the canal passable.
World Heritage
In 1998, UNESCO decided to add the four boat lifts of the Canal du Center to the World Heritage List.
Accident in January 2002
A few months before the opening of the new Strepy-Thieu ship lift, a spectacular accident occurred on January 17, 2002 in lift no. 1: while a barge was leaving the lift in the lower position, the trough suddenly rose. The ship broke in two and the gate mechanism of the lift was destroyed. Fortunately, there were no injuries and the ship's crew was able to jump off board in good time. But this interrupted the continuous shipping traffic until the opening of the new canal section.
Today's operation
Since the accident-related closure of elevator no. 1, the other works have only been operated for sports and leisure shipping. In addition to private boats, excursion boats run once or twice a day from the Cantine des Italiens visitor center through the lifts No. 2 and No. 3 and back.
In March 2005, the repair and restoration work began on elevator no. 1. Its recommissioning was originally planned for spring 2009, but this deadline could not be met. In September 2009, work on the superstructure was apparently completed. Both troughs lay in their lowered position in their concrete beds, but had not yet been flooded again. In September 2010 one of the troughs was flooded again, the other was still being worked on at the top gate. The ceremonial commissioning after the repair finally took place on June 8, 2011.
Details
| Elevator | place | position | Lifting height | photo |
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| number 1 | Houdeng-Goegnies | 50 ° 29 '15 " N , 4 ° 10' 32.9" E | 15.397 m |
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| No. 2 | Houdeng-Aimeries | 50 ° 28 '57.4 " N , 4 ° 8' 32.3" E | 16,934 m |
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| No. 3 | Strépy-Bracquegnies | 50 ° 28 '52.7 " N , 4 ° 8' 14.3" E | 16.933 m |
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| No. 4 | Thieu | 50 ° 28 '17 " N , 4 ° 5' 40.2" E | 16.933 m |
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technology
Hydraulic operation
The four plunger ship lifts are largely identical. They work on the same principle and were planned by the same engineer, Edwin Clark , as the Anderton ship lift in England, but are designed for significantly larger ships than this one. Unlike in Anderton and just like in the Les Fontinettes ship lift , which was also designed by Clark at the same time, gates were also planned at the lower reaches here from the outset so that the troughs do not sink into the underwater but into a dry concrete bed. The lifts are designed in twin construction, so both troughs always move in opposite directions.
Not only the lift itself, but also most of the ancillary units, such as the gantry cranes for lifting and lowering the gates, are driven hydraulically. The hydraulic pressure required for this is generated in two power stations, which are located at elevator no. 1 and below no.
Sequence of a lifting / lowering process
After the ships have driven into the respective troughs, the gates hanging on the portal cranes are lowered. Then an employee of the elevator loosens the seal between the trough and the masonry, so that the water can run off between the canal and trough gates, and unhooks the trough gates from the canal gates.
Then the valve between the two hydraulic cylinders is opened from the control room via a rotating rod. The upper trough, which is about 75 tons heavier than the lower trough due to the higher water level, is now lowering. The water that the plunger of the lowering trough displaces in the cylinder flows through the valve into the other cylinder and thus lifts the other trough. The water flow between the two cylinders and thus the lifting and lowering speed can be controlled via the valve.
Originally, the excess water in the lowering trough should be sufficient to drive the entire lifting / lowering process. Nowadays, however, water is usually also drained from the trough that is raised after about half the distance.
Web links
- Website of the Canal du Center (French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Catastrophe au Canal du Center
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from December 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Houdeng: L'ascenseur de Strépy est à nouveau accessible. (No longer available online.) Mons Télévision, June 8, 2011, formerly the original ; Retrieved July 8, 2011 (French). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Cultural heritage: Flemish beguinages (1998) | Boat lifts on the Belgian Canal du Center (1998) | Grote Markt / Grand 'Place in Brussels (1998) | Belfries in Belgium and France (1999) | Old Town of Bruges (2000) | Art Nouveau buildings by Victor Horta in Brussels (2000) | Neolithic flint mines near Spiennes (2000) | Notre Dame Cathedral in Tournai (2000) | Plantin-Moretus Museum (2005) | Palais Stoclet (2009) | Significant sites of Walloon mining (2012) | The architectural work of Le Corbusier : Maison Guiette (2016)
Natural heritage: Old beech forests and primeval beech forests of the Carpathian Mountains and other regions of Europe : Sonia Forest (2017)