Canal de Roanne à Digoin

Course outline of the channel

The Canal de Roanne à Digoin ( German: Roanne - Digoin Channel ) is a French Ship Canal, which runs in the regions of Rhône -Alpes, Bourgogne and Auvergne, the cities Roanne and Digoin together and, in principle, an extension of the Lateral Canal à la Loire ( German: Loire Lateral Canal ) is to the south.

Development and technical infrastructure

The canal begins in the harbor of Roanne, generally proceeds in a northerly direction and always leads on the left bank of the Loire river along until he opens after 55 kilometers, at Chavanne (municipality Chassenard ) in the Loire Lateral Canal. This cross two kilometers to the Loire with a 240 -meter-long canal bridge and goes to the other side of the Canal du Centre ( German: Center channel) on which connects to the Saône and on to the Mediterranean. The city Digoin is thus an important crossing point of the French waterways.

The channel is of type produces a side channel of the river course of the Loire follows without own vertex position. To overcome the height difference of 37 meters, it has 10 locks, which are designed for ships of standard size Freycinet.

Noteworthy is the canal bridge Oudan north of Roanne, since in this case the river crosses the canal and not vice versa, as is usual.

Coordinates

  • Source of the canal: 46 ° 2 ' 25 "N, 4 ° 5' 3" O46.0402777777784.0841666666667Koordinaten: 46 ° 2 ' 25 "N, 4 ° 5' 3" O
  • Endpoint of the channel: 46 ° 28 ' 18 "N, 3 ° 58 ' 0" O46.4716666666673.9666666666667

By Crossed departments

  • In the Rhône-Alpes region: Loire
  • In the Burgundy region: Saône -et -Loire
  • In the region Auvergne Allier

Places on the river

List of locks

  • Roanne
  • Cornillon
  • Briennon
  • Artaix
  • Montgrailloux
  • Chambilly
  • Bourg -le- Comte
  • Chassenard
  • Beugnets
  • Breton

History

The channel is one of many shipping channels that have been defined by French General for the road and bridge beings Louis Becquey 1821/1822 by law. The aim of the channel was to the face of growing industrial upswing to replace the unreliable water supply from the Loire through a side channel. The channel was funded by a French-Swiss society. The person in charge of the construction of the canal engineer, Pierre -Benoit de Varaigne. The work was begun in 1832, the opening of the canal was already 1838. It included after its completion 13 locks with dimensions of 31 meters length and 5.20 meters in width. This corresponded to the conditions laid down by Louis Becquey standard, which is why it is also called " Becquey - size ". 1863, the canal was purchased by the state, who tried through various changes to make it more competitive against the rail.

In the years 1890-1905 the channel to the new size standard of Freycinet was rebuilt. The original 13 locks were reduced to 10 and its length is increased to 39 meters. With these works engineer Léonce -Abel Mazoyer (1846-1910) was commissioned, who also designed the famous canal bridge of Briare.

The highlight of the freight volume was achieved in 1917. Nevertheless, the decline of its economic importance until the 1960s was dramatic. We thought at that time even to cover it partially and to build in its place a highway. In June 1992, the decision, the port of Roanne was not longer to use for trade. His successor was adopted by the leisure and tourism industry, which soon began to reshape the port for use by sports and houseboats.

The channel remains one of the State and managed by the public operator Voies Navigables de France ( VNF ) entertain only good and right because of the low staffing levels. His sale to the authorities is drawn in the context of promoting regional tourism into consideration.

Auvergne (region) Canal du Centre (France) Pleasure craft Structurae
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