Canal de Saint-Quentin

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Canal de Saint-Quentin
Course sketch of the canal

Course sketch of the canal

Water code FR :  E1-0252 , FR :  E1000462 , FR :  E60-0392 , FR :  ---- 0462
location France , Hauts-de-France region
length 92 km
Built 1728-1810
class I ( Freycinet class )
Beginning Crossing of the canalized Scheldt in Cambrai
The End Crossing into the Canal latéral à l'Oise near Chauny
Descent structures 35
Ports Cambrai, Saint-Quentin , Tergnier , Chauny
Junctions, crossings Canal de la Somme , Canal de la Sambre à l'Oise
Historical precursors Canal Crozat
Used river Scheldt, Somme, Oise
Outstanding structures Riqueval tunnel, Le Tronquoy tunnel
Kilometrage from Cambrai to the south
CanalStQuentin1.jpg
Chain tug at the Riqueval tunnel
Leisure harbor in Cambrai

The Canal de Saint-Quentin ( German: Canal of Saint-Quentin ) is a French shipping canal that runs in the Hauts-de-France region .

geography

The canal connects the rivers Scheldt and Oise and is part of an inland waterway that connects Belgium with north-west France and the greater Paris area. This route consists of the following waterways:

Course and technical infrastructure

The Canal de Saint-Quentin begins at Cambrai , where it connects to the canalized Scheldt. At Saint-Simon it has a connection to the Canal de la Somme ( German: Somme Canal ), on which shipping in this area was discontinued. At Tergnier there is a connection with the Canal de la Sambre à l'Oise ( German: Sambre-Oise-Kanal ). At Chauny , the canal finally joins the Canal latéral à l'Oise after a total length of 92 kilometers ( German: Oise-Seitenkanal ).

It is a canal of the watershed type , the top of which is overcome by two tunnels:

The difference in altitude from its mouth in the Scheldt is 38 meters and is balanced by seventeen locks , while that to the Oise valley is 43 meters and requires eighteen locks. Long supply channels were built for the water supply to the apex. In the direction of Cambrai, the canal runs parallel to the Scheldt, from which water is taken. In the opposite direction, first the Somme and later the Oise provide the water supply.

Riqueval tunnel

Due to its length, the Riqueval tunnel can not be crossed by ships or pleasure craft alone. Therefore, a chain tug boat runs through the tunnel twice a day and pulls the ships behind it. This tugboat uses a chain to move that is laid in the bottom of the canal and then runs across the deck of the ship. Here it is guided over rollers that are driven by an electric motor. In this way the ship reaches a speed of approx. 2.8 km / h. The passage through the tunnel takes about two hours. A double-pole overhead line for the power supply is attached to the ceiling of the tunnel , which is continued for approx. 200 meters at both ends of the tunnel so that the chain tugs can be supplied with the required electrical energy.

Coordinates

Crossed departments

Places on the canal

The Quai Gayant on the canal in Saint-Quentin

history

Aerial view of the Riqueval tunnel during World War I, 1918

Construction began in 1728. Antoine Crozat acted as the financier of the first thirteen kilometers , which is why the canal used to be called Canal de Crozat . The Saint-Quentin - Chauny section was completed in 1776 and the entire line opened in 1810.

In a first start of construction for the piece between Vendhuile and the hamlet of Le Tronquoy in the municipality of Lesdins , a 13.7 kilometer long tunnel was started from the south, the construction of which had to be stopped shortly before completion. The incision and the buried portal can still be seen in a fenced-in area at the intersection of the D 71 department road with the D 718 northwest of Lesdins. The north portal should be in the southeastern area of ​​the village of Vendhuile. There you can also see the original alignment of the canal towards the planned north portal. In places you can still see access shafts that were intended to ventilate the tunnel. Later, two tunnels were built in the apex position, separated by an open canal section: the Riqueval tunnel (5.670 km) and the Le Tronquoy tunnel (1.098 km).

The Riqueval tunnel was on the frontline of the First World War ( Hindenburg line ) and was held by German troops for a long time before it could be captured by the Americans. In this context, the capture of the Riqueval Bridge on September 29, 1918 (see Battle of the Saint-Quentin Canal ) became famous . As a result, there is now a memorial , which was erected by Americans, exactly above the tunnel north of Bellicourt on the D 1044 (formerly N 44bis ) .

Economical meaning

Freight shipping has gradually lost its importance. Large - scale shipping uses the Canal du Nord - large shipping route Dunkirk-Scheldt for this route , which is why the Saint-Quentin Canal has a relatively low volume of traffic.

See also

Web links

Commons : Canal de Saint-Quentin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • David Edwards-May: Inland waters of France , 5th edition, Verlag Edition Maritim, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-922117-61-9
  • Navicarte Guide de navigation fluvial - n ° 24 , July 2005, Edition Grafocarte, ISBN 2-7416-0149-6

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The information on the canal length is based on the summation of the following sections of the Canal de Saint-Quentin (northern section) at SANDRE (French), Canal de Saint-Quentin (vertex position) at SANDRE (French), Canal de Saint-Quentin (middle section ) from SANDRE (French) and Canal de Saint-Quentin (southern section) from SANDRE (French) accessed on December 13, 2011, rounded to the nearest kilometer.
  2. ↑ Le toueur de Riqueval at Voies navigables de France, accessed on February 28, 2016