Canal de Roubaix
The Canal de Roubaix is a shipping canal in France that runs in the Nord department of the Hauts-de-France region and is named after the city of Roubaix through which it passes. It has a length of 12.4 km and connects the straightened river Marque with the Scheldt (French: Escaut ). However, it only carries this name up to the Belgian border, on the Belgian side the connection to the Scheldt is called Canal de l'Espierres .
On the Marque, the canal continues to the Deûle , which opens the way to Lille (south) and the Leie (north). Thus, the Canal de Roubaix is part of the Deûle-Scheldt connection, which used to be important for the region.
Channel guidance
The canal begins at the right-angled junction from the Marque, west of the town of Wasquehal and runs in a straight line past Croix (right bank) and Mouvaux (left bank) to the western edge of the city of Roubaix. In the north-west of the city, the Canal de Tourcoing branches off to the north. The Canal de Roubaix then leads in a wide arc between Roubaix and Tourcoing around the city and turns east of the city between Roubaix and Wattrelos in an easterly direction. From there it leads in a relatively straight line to the Belgian border and meets it north of the city of Leers .
Coordinates
- Starting point of the canal: 50 ° 40 ′ 20 ″ N , 3 ° 7 ′ 22 ″ E
- End point of canal: 50 ° 41 ′ 28 " N , 3 ° 15 ′ 16" E
history
Planning and construction of the canal
The origin of the canal goes back to the 17th century, when the builder Vauban planned the construction of a canal in northern France, which would connect Roubaix with Croix at this point. However, the plans are not being implemented.
In 1821, the Prefect of the Northern Department commissioned a study to build a canal through Roubaix. The canal is intended to give the cities of Roubaix, Wattrelos and Leers access to more extensive transport links and, above all, to supply sufficient amounts of water to the region with constant supply difficulties. Three years later, a Mr. Cordier plans to build a canal just 2.5 meters wide. The project envisages straightening the Marque as far as Croix and Hem and building a canal south around Roubaix. At the request of the project officer, the planned building will be made wider and the course adapted. In addition, a short stretch of the canal was to lead through a tunnel on the heights of Barbieux to connect the cities of Croix and Roubaix.
Construction began on the Belgian side in 1825 and led from Tournai north past Leers to Roubaix, which he reached in 1843. This section is known as the "old canal" (French ancien canal ). On the other hand, the marque has already been straightened and made navigable as far as Wesquhal.
In 1861 it was decided by decree that the connection between the two sections that had already been completed should not be made through a tunnel, but rather openly between Roubaix and Tourcoing. The idea of a tunnel is finally given up. However, this new canal requires overcoming the "mountain" of Roubaix (French: montagne de Roubaix ), which corresponds to a height difference of a few tens of meters. The new project therefore envisaged the construction of two boat stairs, each of which was supposed to overcome a height difference of five locks and shared a pumping station on the Deûle.
Construction was completed in 1876 and the last section of the canal was opened to traffic in January 1877 - the first boat arrives in Roubaix. In 1881 the abandoned canal bed from the first project draft, which still provided for a tunnel, was used for the construction of a boulevard, the Boulevard Gambetta. The shafts for tunneling under the hill, which had already been started, were used from 1878 for the construction of Parc Barbieux . Parts of the shaft can still be seen today on the Croix side.
The construction of the canal arm, which ends in a dead end in the center of Tourcoing, is declared non-profit in 1882 and completed in 1893. The construction of the canal was thus completely finished.
Another story
In 1896 it was decided to support the water level of the canal, which was considered insufficient - which tends to zero when the level was low - with water from the Deûle, which was branched off in Lille at the Saint André lock and fed into the canal via underground pipes over a distance of seven kilometers becomes. Now social life also takes possession of the channel. In addition to hobby anglers, rowers in particular use the canal. The Cercle de l'Aviron de Roubaix rowing club is founded, whose members train on the canal and compete against other teams in rowing regattas . Success did not last long: at the rowing competitions of the Olympic Games in 1900, the four-man with helmsman from Roubaix won the gold medal.
During the two world wars, some facilities on the canal were badly damaged or destroyed. In 1948, however, traffic on the canal can be resumed. Numerous textile and chemical factories are being built along the canal, reviving the use of the canal. The raw materials for the production and the coal for the energy supply of the companies is transported over the canal.
In 1960, a major construction project for a Marquette-Wattrelos canal was commissioned, but was abandoned in 1975. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, traffic on the canal decreased sharply due to competition from heavy goods vehicles, until use of the canal was finally completely discontinued in 1986. Only the Marque is continued to the Lesaffre company.
Renewal of the canal
In 1995 the Syndicat Mixte du Canal de Roubaix was launched, with the task of maintaining and beautifying the canal bank. Above all, projects to plant the bank are carried out. In 1997 the “Charter for the Design of the Canal de Roubaix” (French charte d'aménagement du Canal de Roubaix ) is drawn up.
Between 2002 and 2003, the canal was reopened after various Franco-Belgian renovation and reconstruction measures. After numerous studies, the European Union decides to financially support the cross-border project to make the waterways between Deûle and Schelde navigable.
The “Blue Links” program will provide 37 million euros over three years. In 2009, construction work on the French side was completed. On September 18-20, 2009, the Blue Days were celebrated on the Canal de Roubaix and the canal was reopened to shipping. On June 1, 2011, the entire route between Deûle and Escaut was opened to traffic.
Locks
Ten locks (French écluses ) have to be negotiated from the beginning to the end of the canal. These locks are as follows from the Marque to Leers:
- Ecluse du Trieste
- Ecluse du Plomeux
- Ecluse du Noir Bonnet
- Ecluse du Cottigny
- Ecluse de la Masure
- Ecluse de l'Union
- Ecluse du Nouveau Monde
- Ecluse du Calvaire
- Ecluse du Galon d'eau
- Ecluse du Sartel
From the écluse du Triest to the écluse de la Masure , on a narrow section of canal between Wasquehal and the north of Croix, an increase in terrain is overcome. The following lock écluse de l'Union , the ships reach after a long straight section in the northeast of Roubaix 'after the junction of the Canal de Tourcoing. This is followed by three locks in close succession in the east of the city, as well as the last lock between Roubaix and Leers. These last five locks bring the ships back to a lower water level.
bridges
A total of 32 carriageway and pedestrian bridges cross the canal. These include bascule bridges (e.g. pont levant Daubenton ), lift bridges (e.g. pont levant de Wattrelos ) and swing bridges .
literature
- Philippe Waret and Jean-Pierre Popelier: Roubaix de A à Z . Section Quais du canal - A la recherche de l'eau , p. 126ff. Editions Alain Sutton, Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, 2006, ISBN 2-84910-459-0
Web links
- Website of the “Blue Links” project linking the Deûle with the Scheldt (French)
- Website with extensive information on the channel (French)
- Online reference book on the rivers and canals of France (French)