Canals

[Mercedes Benzene]

As many of you know, I have many random affections for... well all sorts of stuff.

One of them that I haven't really talked about yet at Hypo: Canals

 

Today I went for a 10 mile run on the C&O Canal, and I remembered how much canals really fascinate me. They're such amazing engineering marvels, especially when it comes to the operation of canal locks.

 

So, what are your experiences with canals?

Are there any near where you live? And if so, are they still used for the purpose of transportation, or are they just kinda... there?

 

Discuss:hyper:

[yellow]

I visited Amsterdam, Netherlands, last year, and one aspect of the city that i fell in love with was the canals. They fascinated me, how much an integral part of the city, and transportation they were. The canal buses were kinda slow but relaxing and leisurely, allows for a lot of gazing at the architecture. Travel by personal boat seemed very convenient, and it outnumbered cars, not bicycles though. Beside transport, so many people lived on the canals. The houseboats and floating garden boxes have inspired many pieces of artwork from my memory banks.

Then, there was the mechanics of having all those canals amidst a city. I tried to learn as much as possible about their history.

[Turtle]

As many of you know, I have many random affections for... well all sorts of stuff.

One of them that I haven't really talked about yet at Hypo: Canals

 

Today I went for a 10 mile run on the C&O Canal, and I remembered how much canals really fascinate me. They're such amazing engineering marvels, especially when it comes to the operation of canal locks.

 

So, what are your experiences with canals?

Are there any near where you live? And if so, are they still used for the purpose of transportation, or are they just kinda... there?

 

Discuss:hyper:

 

Random infection rocks! :hihi: errr...a....that's 'affection'.:hyper:

 

My viral varieties include reading/watching about the history and mechanics of canals, locks, motive power, etcetera. My region is ill-suited to canals and amply suplied with rivers, and the only nearby canal is an irrigation canal appropriately called 'Big Ditch'. I'm not sure if it's even in use for that any more. I have heard bits & pieces on it and think it is very old and dug by Chinese laborers if my poor memory serves me poorly. :lol:

 

Canal anecdote: one of the first recorded observations of a soliton wave involved a man on horseback racing along the canal to keep pace with the wave which persisted for several miles. The wave was set in motion by a barge stopping abruptly. No links; just my poor memory & off the cuff. :eek2: :)

 

PS cuff is French, and now linked. :hyper: Soliton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Turtle]

I saw a cable show on the Panama canal recently and the plans to build new locks able to handle todays super-ships. The show focused mainly on the engineering challenges and plans, but this article has more of an economic & political slant to the project.

 

Full steam ahead for canal rebuild - 24 Oct 2006 - NZ Herald: World / International News

Supporters say the expansion of the canal, an engineering wonder first opened in 1914, will create a jobs bonanza for Panama's three million people and boost economic growth.Critics warned the plan could bankrupt the small nation, which is already burdened with huge debts and where 40 per cent of people live in poverty, if costs spiralled. Taxpayers could be forced to pick up the tab and investors lose money.

...

The expansion plan, due to start in 2008 and finish in 2014, will build wider locks and deeper and bigger access channels, and let ships with 12,000 containers pass through, up from 4000-container vessels.

 

:hihi: :shrug:

[eric l]

Though not as grand as the Panama Canal, we have in Belgium a canal (from the beginning of the 20th century) with 4 pairs of hydraulic boatlifts, still in working order. These lifts take barges (300 ton max.) and boats about 15 m up, with the nenergy of falling water as their only power source. They now serve only for pleasure craft, since the inauguration of a gigantic lift taking the larger new barges (up to 1350 ton) 75 m up.

• Old Home page on the lift-locks on the Canal du Centre, Houdeng and Strépy-Thieu, Belgium
  
• Lifts on the old Canal du Centre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  
• Belgium - Canal du Centre - Boat lift nr 1 - Houdeng-Goegnies - 2 mar 2007 pictures from europe photos on webshots
  
• Koos Fernhout's slideshow on Flickr
   
  

[Mercedes Benzene]

I saw a cable show on the Panama canal recently and the plans to build new locks able to handle todays super-ships. The show focused mainly on the engineering challenges and plans, but this article has more of an economic & political slant to the project.

I do believe I saw a part of that same program. It used to be that ships were designed so that they were as large as possible while still being able to travel through the canal (Panamax). Now ship builders want more, so Panama has to cater to their desires.

 

Though not as grand as the Panama Canal, we have in Belgium a canal (from the beginning of the 20th century) with 4 pairs of hydraulic boatlifts, still in working order. These lifts take barges (300 ton max.) and boats about 15 m up, with the nenergy of falling water as their only power source. They now serve only for pleasure craft, since the inauguration of a gigantic lift taking the larger new barges (up to 1350 ton) 75 m up.

Very interesting. Boat lifts are not things that I see very often... in fact, I don't think I've ever seen a boat lift in "real life". I did however watch a television show that detailed the construction of the Falkirk Wheel, which I found to be very interesting.

 

Another really cool method of raising boats from one part of a canal to another is an Inclined Plane lift. Apparently the C&O canal had one of these in Georgetown. It's not really there anymore, but I did read a plaque describing it and its history.

[Michaelangelica]

As many of you know, I have many random affections for... well all sorts of stuff.

:

i recently read a book about the Guy who built most of Britains Canals.

A great read in the tradition of latitude.

You must try to track it down. Sorry vague on detail but it has only been published in the last 3-4 years. He did a lot of map making and fossil collecting too.

 

The idea of floating down a canal in France, stopping at little restaurants and wineries sounds like the perfect holiday to me.

No cars, no packing up every day, no driving.BLISS

The lottery is my only chance I think.

[eric l]

 

Another really cool method of raising boats from one part of a canal to another is an Inclined Plane lift. Apparently the C&O canal had one of these in Georgetown. It's not really there anymore, but I did read a plaque describing it and its history.

 

As far as inclined planes are concerned, I know two of them, one in Belgium and an other in France.

In Belgium, it is situated at Ronquières, it replaces about a dozen of old locks.

The inclined plane of Ronquières

(The same site also provides a link to the new 75 m boat lift at Strepy-Thieu (the one that repalces 4 hydraulic lifts)

In France it is situated on the Marne-Rhine canal at St.Louis/Arzviller. It is particular in the sense that boats are lifted crosswise to the direction of the canal.

St Louis-Arzviller Inclined Plane

Structurae [en]: Plan incliné de Saint-Louis / Arzviller (1969)

The Boat Lift of Saint-Louis-Arzviller - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St.Louis/Arzviller was a pet project of president De Gaulle, who was from the Loraine region himself.

There is an other inclined plane somewhere in Russia, and there used to be one in Poland, but I do not know them. (I visited the others, being a bit of a canal freak myself) I try to find some more info on them and post some links - in English if possible - preferably with pictures.

You can also expect a post on the "souterrain de Riqueval", where the canal goes (went ?) through a 5.5 km long tunnel and where barges were towed through the tunnel by a "toueur", an electric tugboat that propelled itself by winding a chain over a pulley. This feat of engineering is also becoming victim of the new 1350 ton standard.

[Mercedes Benzene]

As far as inclined planes are concerned, I know two of them, one in Belgium and an other in France.

In Belgium, it is situated at Ronquières, it replaces about a dozen of old locks.

The inclined plane of Ronquières

(The same site also provides a link to the new 75 m boat lift at Strepy-Thieu (the one that repalces 4 hydraulic lifts)

In France it is situated on the Marne-Rhine canal at St.Louis/Arzviller. It is particular in the sense that boats are lifted crosswise to the direction of the canal.

 

Very interesting! I wish we had something link that around here. It just amazes me what people have come up with to solve their canal-traversing problems. :D

[eric l]

I had promissed a post on the Riqueval tunnel ("Souterrain de Riqueval", but it seems diificult to find a site in English that is really informative. This one is from a Dutch cyclist, relating his trip :

Canal de Saint-Quentin

The next one is in French, but shows some nice pictures plus an interesting diagram. There is not too much text, so I copied and translated it below

PhotoLRX / Riqueval : Le "toueur".

Le "toueur" est un bâteau-treuil électrique, qui permet de faire traverser les péniches (moteurs arrêtés) à travers un tunnel de 5670 mètres.

The "towboat" is an electrical hoistboat that makes it possible for barges to pass through the 5670 m tunnel with their engines stopped.

La longueur de la chaîne est de 8 km, elle repose sur le fond du canal, et la vitesse du "toueur" est de 2,5 km/H.

The length of the chain is 8 km, and it rests on the bottom of the canal; the speed of the "towboat" is 2.5 km/h

Cet ensemble fut édifié par Napoléon 1er, au début du 19ème siècle. Les travaux durèrent 8 ans (1802 - 1810). Il fut inauguré par Napoléon et Marie-Louise en 1810.

The canal and tunnel were built by Napoleon I, at the beginning of the 19th century. The work took 8 years (from 1802 to 1810). The tunnel was inaugurated by Napoleon and Marie-Louise in 1810.

Un musée du touage a été aménagé dans un ancien "toueur" électrique de 1910.

A museum on the towing was created in an old electrical towboat from 1910

Depuis 1810 les bateaux sont halés dans le souterrain, tout d'abord tirés par les bras de l'homme puis par un premier "toueur" dont le treuil était actionné par des chevaux qui tournaient sur une plateforme posée sur le pont du bateau, cet ensemble portait le joli nom de "rougaillou".

From 1810 on the barges have been towed through the tunnel, first by manpower, later by a first towboat powered by horses truning a platform on the deck of the boat, an assembly know by the merry name "

rougaillou

"

 

Ci-dessus le principe de fonctionnement d'un "toueur".

The diagram shows the working of the towboat

Dans le fonctionnement d'un treuil classique le treuil est fixe et la chaîne mobile, pour le toueur c'est l'inverse, la chaîne est fixe et le treuil étant fixé sur un bateau, c'est le bateau qui est mobile.

Usually, the hoist is fixed and the chain is moving. Here the ends of the chain are fixed, and the hoist being fixed on the boat makes the boat move

 

Pendant la 1ère guerre mondiale, ce grand souterrain fût transformé en hôpital militaire par les troupes Allemandes.

Durin WW1 the tunnel was transformed into a millitary hospital by the German army.

 

Pour toutes informations :

Maison de Pays du Vermandois / Musée du Touage -> Tél. 03 23 09 50 51

Fax 03 23 09 57 07 E-mail : [email protected]

For further information (+ adress and e-mail)

 

Some extra information :

The towboat is powered by 500 V DC (very much like most tramways)

The towboat can pull up to 30 loaded barges, and makes two trips boat ways every day, on fixed hours (an other reason why it is sometimes referred to as "the metro" or "the tramway). Loaded barges are (were) first in line, next empty barges and last pleasure craft. Now it tows pleasure craft mainly.

 

Specially for Michaelangelica : there is an Australian WW1 monument and war cemetary near by (less tan one mile)

[palmtreepathos]

eau to live in France... on a canal.... ahhhh

 

Read this a couple years back, still a good diversion...

 

Living on a converted barge in France

[CraigD]

I’ve long thought the Falkirk Wheel is the coolest and most elegant looking canal locks. I’d love to visit it someday – I imagine actually seeing it in operation for the first time is quite an experience.

 

As a youth, I boated a lot of the US’s Intercoastal Waterways. I was amused that, after a 20 or so minute wait, they’d cycle a huge lock with just my tiny (about 4 m) sailboat in it.

 

On my last vacation, I drove from Albany to Buffalo NY, followed a rout passing near several abandoned above-ground canalways and locks of the Erie Canal. There’re rather forlorn-looking, just big decaying stands of masonry with car pulloffs and marker signs. Near Albany, there’s a section of old canal that’s been refilled, restored, and made into a historic park – completely unconnected to the current canal, which was long-ago rerouted to use more natural rivers. Though it’s still possible to take a boat from the Niagra river on Lake Erie to the Hudson river, and hence into the open Atlantic, it looks little like it did when it was open in 1825.