Canal de Neuffossé
Canal de Neuffossé | |
---|---|
Connection between Canal d'Aire and Aa |
|
Water code | FR : E40-0182 |
location | France , Hauts-de-France region |
length | 20 km |
Built | Commissioned in 1774 |
Expanded | Late 1960s |
class | Va |
Beginning | Continuation of the Canal d'Aire at Aire-sur-la-Lys |
The End | Crossing into the canalised Aa at Saint-Omer |
Descent structures | Fontinettes, Flandres |
Ports | Aire-sur-la-Lys, Arques, Saint-Omer |
Junctions, crossings | channeled Lys |
Used river | Leie, Aa |
Outstanding structures | Les Fontinettes boat lift |
Downhill | Direction Saint-Omer |
Responsible WSD | Nord-Pas-de-Calais / Subdivision Saint-Omer |
Part of the large shipping route Dunkirk-Scheldt | |
The canal in Arques |
The Canal de Neuffossé (sometimes also: Canal de Neufossé ) is a French shipping canal that runs through the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments in the Hauts-de-France region . Today it is part of the large shipping route Dunkirk-Scheldt .
geography
The canal connects the rivers Leie (French: Lys ) and Aa and continues in the canalised lower reaches of the Aa towards Dunkirk . It is a connecting canal with a height difference of about 17 meters.
Coordinates
- Starting point of the canal: 50 ° 38 ′ 42 " N , 2 ° 24 ′ 38" E
- End point of the canal: 50 ° 46 ′ 25 ″ N , 2 ° 15 ′ 48 ″ E
Course and technical infrastructure
The canal begins at Aire-sur-la-Lys , at the junction of the canalised Leie, and is the continuation of the Canal d'Aire, which ends there . It generally runs north-west and reaches the upper reaches of the Aa at Arques , which, however, is branched off to supply the old canal and the city port of Saint-Omer . The new canal section ( Dérivation de Saint-Omer ) bypasses the city of Saint-Omer in the east through the foothills of the Regional Nature Park Caps et Marais d'Opale and then meets again with the old canal. Here the Canal de Neuffossé ends and merges into the canalised section of the Aa, which is the continuation of the large shipping route towards Dunkirk. The Canal de Neuffossé is around 20 kilometers long and has two locks (Fontinettes and Flandres), which are dimensioned for push convoys with a loading capacity of up to 3,000 tons.
history
The first plans and concepts for this canal go back to the year 1053. A serious start was made in 1753 and commissioning took place in 1774. The locks, originally built in the Freycinet format, were rebuilt in the 1960s and 1970s, the canal straightened, widened, deepened and integrated into the major shipping route Dunkirk-Schelde. From the old route you can still see the abandoned city crossings, e.g. B. in Aire-sur-la-Lys and Saint-Omer.
The Fontinettes lock near Arques is particularly interesting : originally, the height difference of around 13 meters was overcome with a staircase of five locks, until they were replaced in 1887 by the Les Fontinettes boat lift , a technical masterpiece at the time. When the large shipping route was expanded, the ship lift was taken out of service in 1967 and replaced by a modern lock.
Places on the canal
Attractions
Web links
- Canal de Neuffossé near SANDRE (French)
- Entry in the Babel project (French)
literature
- David Edwards-May: Inland waters of France , 5th edition, Verlag Edition Maritim, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-922117-61-9
- Map from geoportail.fr (1: 16,000) , accessed October 14, 2011