Canal de Donzere-Mondragon

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Canal de Donzere-Mondragon
The Canal de Donzère-Mondragon

The Canal de Donzère-Mondragon

Water code FR :  V --- 2002
location France , Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur regions
length 29 km
Built 1947 to 1952
class Va
Beginning Junction from the Rhône at Donzère
The End Re-confluence with the Rhône below Mondragon
Descent structures Bollène
Ports Tricastin
Used river Rhône
Outstanding structures André Blondel hydroelectric power station
Downhill following the course of the river
Sluis Bollène.jpg
Bollène power station and lock

The Canal de Donzère-Mondragon (German: Donzère-Mondragon Canal ) is a shipping canal that runs in the French departments of Drôme and Vaucluse . It was built by the Compagnie nationale du Rhône to generate energy in the André Blondel hydropower station and for shipping and is still operated by them. Its water is also used to cool the Tricastin nuclear power plant. In terms of type, it is a shortcut channel that straightens a section of the Rhône in the greater area between Valence and Avignon .

geography

At Donzère it branches off to the left of the Rhône River and after a distance of 29 kilometers below Mondragon it again joins the river. The height difference is around 22 meters and is overcome by a single lock next to the André Blondel hydropower station near Bollène . The lock is designed for large barges (Grand Gabarit) and has dimensions of 190 × 11.40 meters. Until the completion of the Main-Danube Canal, it had the greatest drop of all locks in Europe.

Coordinates

Places on the canal

history

The system goes back to an idea of ​​the French physicist André-Eugène Blondel . It was built between 1947 and 1952. The hydropower plant is still named after André Blondel today, the facade of the power plant building and the control room at that time are listed and registered as a monument historique .

Beginning in the 1960s, the Tricastin nuclear plant was built on the right bank of the canal . a. the Tricastin nuclear power plant with its four reactor blocks is located - the canal is thereby u. a. used for the supply and discharge of the cooling water of the power plant units.

Interesting structures on the canal

  • Inlet weir with protective sluice at Donzère
  • Tricastin nuclear power plant near Pierrelatte
  • Hydroelectric power station André Blondel with ship lock near Bollène

Bridges over the canal

The following bridges and crossings lead over the canal:

  • Inlet weir at Donzère, can be driven over, but only accessible to employees
  • Railway bridge on the Montélimar - Pierrelatte line (steel truss bridge)
  • Road bridge N 7 Montélimar - Pierrelatte (concrete beam bridge)
  • La Garde-Adhémar - Road bridge D 356 Pierrelatte , the first modern cable-stayed bridge , in 1952 by Albert Caquot built
  • Viaduc de La Garde-Adhémar, railway bridge of the LGV Méditérranée (high-speed line PLM Paris, Lyon, Marseille) (steel arch)
  • Road bridge D 59 Pierrelatte - Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (suspension bridge)
  • Road bridge D 204 to Bollène-Écluse (prestressed concrete bridge)
  • Promenade Léon Perrier, road over the André Blondel power station and the lock (part of the concrete structure)
  • Road bridge D 994 Pont-Saint-Esprit - Bollène (suspension bridge)
  • Railway bridge Pierrelatte - Mondragon (steel truss bridge)
  • Road bridge N 7 Pierrelatte - Mondragon (concrete girder bridge by Albert Caquot)
  • Road bridge D 44 Pont-Saint-Esprit - Mondragon (suspension bridge)

Web links

Commons : Canal de Donzère-Mondragon  - Collection of images, videos and audio files