Fonserannes water lift

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Fonserannes water lift, 2015

The water wedge lift Fonserannes ( French Pente d'eau de Fonserannes ), also water wedge lift Béziers ( French Pente d'eau de Béziers ), is a boat lift on the Canal du Midi . It is located in the municipality of the French city ​​of Béziers in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region . After the water wedge lift in Montech , the system was the second and last water wedge lift in the world to go into operation in 1983 and shut down in 2001.

History and description

Schematic representation of the sliding process on an information board at the Montech water wedge lift
Upper section with branch to the lock stairs
Lifting vehicle for the Fonserannes water wedge lift, 1985
Lower end of the channel
Decommissioned lifting vehicle, 2015

The water wedge lift was built because the parallel lock staircase could only be passed with a great deal of time and the dimensions of the lock chambers were no longer sufficient for commercial freight traffic. While numerous locks on the Canal du Midi were to be extended to the Freycinet dimension for 38.5 m long barges , the decision was made in this case, based on the model of the Montech water wedge lift opened in 1973 , for wet pumping in an inclined channel.

In 1980 the construction of the inclined lift started and in 1983 it was inaugurated. As in Montech, a lifting vehicle moved a wedge of water along a channel and overcame a height difference, in this case 13.6 m. The transport of a ship through the channel took approx. 10 minutes compared to approx. 30 (downwards) or 45 (upwards) minutes via the lock stairs.

The system consists of a concrete channel with a constant cross-section. This rises in a straight line and evenly with a slope of 5% and has a lock gate at both ends. The lifting vehicle moves along the channel, moving a wedge-shaped body of water in front of a lowerable shield along with its floating ship.

The electrically operated lifting vehicle rests on gas-filled rubber tires, nine of which run on concrete tracks on either side of the channel. These raised tracks also serve as track guidance, which is ensured by four lateral, horizontal guide rollers.

As a result of the leakage of oil from the hydraulic system of the lifting vehicle, the lifting mechanism had to be shut down again in 1984. The oil that got onto the concrete pavement resulted in reduced static friction . The system was technically revised, contractual and insurance problems had to be clarified. It went into operation a second time in 1987 and worked an average of five out of seven days that season. The use decreased to four out of seven days in the following year and to three out of seven days in 1989. Maintenance required frequent downtimes, which gradually reduced availability over time.

From 1990 onwards the system was switched to “operation on demand”, in that year the elevator was in operation for 68 days. In 1995 the system only worked for two days, the last ship was carried through the channel in 1999. In view of the high operating costs and poor reliability, the plant was shut down on April 11, 2001.

Working principle

Web links

Commons : Fonserannes water slope  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Pente d'eau de Béziers at structurae.info
  2. a b c Pente d'eau Fonserannes - Canal du Midi at uk.rec.waterways, accessed on October 24, 2017
  3. Les ascenseurs à bateaux at capitainerie.fluvial.free.fr, accessed on November 4, 2017
  4. Le lexique du Canal du Midi at tourismecanaldumidi.fr, accessed on November 4, 2017

Coordinates: 43 ° 19 ′ 50 ″  N , 3 ° 11 ′ 59 ″  E