Rhine-Rhône Canal

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Rhine-Rhône Canal
In Dole

In Dole

Water code FR :  ---- 0022 , FR :  A --- 0022
location France, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Grand Est regions
length 237 km
Built 1784-1833
class I ( Freycinet class ), IV from Mulhouse eastwards
Beginning Saint-Symphorien-sur-Saône
The End Niffer
Descent structures 112
Ports Dole , Besançon , Montbéliard , Mulhouse
Junctions, crossings Canal de la Haute-Saône
Used river Doubs
Outstanding structures Thoraise and Besançon tunnels
Kilometrage Direction to the Rhine
Map of the Rhine-Rhone Canal
Route of the Rhine-Rhône Canal (in the picture RR)

The Rhine-Rhône Canal (official name Canal du Rhône au Rhin ) is a French shipping canal that runs through the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Grand Est regions.

geography

The canal connects the valleys of the Saône and Rhine rivers across the watershed of the Burgundian Gate between the Vosges and the Jura . It is part of an inland waterway that creates a navigable connection across Europe between the coasts of the Mediterranean and the North Sea . This route consists of the following waterways:

course

The canal begins in Saint-Symphorien-sur-Saône , where it branches off about four kilometers above the confluence of the Canal de Bourgogne from the Saône at an altitude of 175 meters. From there the canal runs to the Doubs , which it reaches south of Dole . From here to the town of L'Isle-sur-le-Doubs , it uses the canalised river course of the Doubs, then rises as an artificial canal to the apex to a height of 345 meters and crosses the watershed between the river systems of the Rhône at Montreux-Vieux and the Rhine. From Mulhouse to Niffer , the canal runs in the former Kembs-Niffer branch canal . At Niffer, the canal flows into the Rhine after a total length of 237 kilometers , more precisely into the Rhine side canal (Grand Canal d'Alsace).

Coordinates

Crossed departments

Southern section

Northern section

Places on the canal

Southern section

Northern section:

technical infrastructure

Lock near Wolfersdorf

It is a watershed canal that overcomes a total difference in height of around 280 meters, 170 meters of which are on the Saône valley side, which are overcome with 72 locks and 110 meters on the Rhine side, the 40 locks need. The locks have been rebuilt several times and have different dimensions. However, the route is only passable for ships of the Freycinet class. Only the section between Mulhouse and the confluence with the Rhine canal was expanded to accommodate 1,350 t European ships.

The Rhine-Rhône Canal crosses two canal tunnels : One at Thoraise (length 185 m), approx. 10 km west of Besançon, and one under the Citadel of Besançon (length 394 m). Both tunnels shorten a loop of the river Doubs, are six meters wide and only allow one-way traffic.

At 172 km a branch canal branches off to Belfort with nine locks and a length of 13.5 kilometers. This canal is the remaining relic of the never completed Canal de la Haute-Saône , which was originally intended to connect the Rhine-Rhône Canal with the Upper Saône.

history

Construction of the canal began in 1784, but it was only possible to put it into continuous service in 1833. The politician Jean-Georges Humann has made some merits in the construction of the canal.

The Rhine-Rhône Canal originally ran from Mulhouse via Colmar to Strasbourg , this route was replaced by the Rhine Lateral Canal in the 20th century and closed to shipping. Only two sections of the old canal are still in operation, but no longer have any connection with today's Rhine-Rhône Canal:

  • The branch canal to Colmar (also: Canal de Colmar ), length: 23 kilometers, which branches off from the Rhine canal opposite Breisach .
  • The old northern section of the canal (length 35 kilometers), which branches off the Rhine canal at Rheinau and flows into the Canal de la Marne au Rhin in the port of Strasbourg .

Economical meaning

The current importance of the canal for commercial shipping is low. Like many other older channels that only have Freycinet dimensions, their use is hardly economical anymore due to the low loading capacities. To make matters worse, especially in the section of the canalised Doubs, both the permissible draft and the maximum passage height under the bridges are severely restricted. On the other hand, the use of sport boats and houseboats is on the increase , which has established itself in the Franche-Comté region in particular due to the scenic beauty.

Attractions

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The information on the length of the canal over the Rhine-Rhône Canal (from the Saône to the summit) at SANDRE (French) and the Rhine-Rhône Canal (from the summit to the Rhine) at SANDRE (French), accessed on 20. December 2011, could not be taken over as this includes the abandoned section to Strasbourg. The length therefore comes from the nautical documents (see sources).
  2. ↑ Annette Mahro: A building with a high stimulus factor . Badische Zeitung , March 9, 2009, accessed April 10, 2014

literature

  • David Edwards-May: Inland waters of France , 5th edition, Verlag Edition Maritim, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-922117-61-9

Web links

Commons : Rhine-Rhône Canal  - collection of images, videos and audio files