Channel of Roanne with Digoin

Physical characteristics

Side channel with the gauge Freycinet skirting the the Loire.

55,600 kilometers length, it comprises 10 locks and connects the towns of Roanne (42) and Digoin (71).

In Chavane, commune of Chassenard (03), with one kilometer of Digoin, it joined the side Canal in the Loire which forms its prolongation, and, by the Pont-canal of Digoin which makes it possible this last to cross the Loire, the Canal of the Center which connects it to the the Saone and thus the basin of the the Rhone.

In Roanne the channel occurs in the basin of the port, in direct communication with the Loire which feeds it.

  • Altitude in Roanne: 268,50m

  • Altitude in Chavane: 231m

Fall average of 6 of its 10 locks: 3 meters

Higher fall: lock N°7 of Borough-the-Count, 7,20 m

Two other locks, Artaix n°4 and Chassenard n°8, present each one a fall of 6 Mr. Celle of Roanne, on the other hand, has only one made uneven of 0,60 Mr.

Another remarkable work: the bridge-river of Oudan, at the exit of Roanne. This “tubular bridge with back” (the river passes above the channel and not the reverse as usual) is due to the same engineer who conceived the Pont-canal of Briare: Leonce-Abel Mazoyer. It applied to it the same technique of the metal cover, manufactured with Bourges, with the forging mills of Wall. (Launched on August 27th, 1897)

History

The channel of Roanne with Digoin is one of the very many channels registered in the Plan Becquey defined by the laws of August 5th, 1821 and August 14th, 1822 by the minister Louis Becquey (in fact, its exact title is director of the Bridges and Chaussées ).

The goal of the channel is to compensate for the insufficiency of the the Loire vis-a-vis the increasing demand of industry in full rise (it is the Industrial revolution). Its second function is to contribute to the water supply of the side Canal in the Loire.

Work begins in 1832, and the channel is open in 1838, at the same time as the Latéral channel in the Loire.

The channel is financed by the Free-Switzerland Company made up of financial roannais and Genevese. Its seat is at the Devillaine bank, close to the Helvétique crossroads which draws its name from this company. The bank will become the sub-prefecture of Roanne thereafter.

The engineer in charge of work of the channel is Pierre-Benoit Of Tide gate.

He then comprises 13 locks of 31 m out of 5,20 Mr. His damping is of 1,60 m to accommodate boats inserting 1,20 m, his headroom under works is of 3 Mr. the boats can carry up to 150 tons. It is the “Becquey gauge”.

A stopping is established on the Loire, in Roanne, in order to record the level of it to feed the channel by a passage between them two, the " linquet". This first stopping is carried by the rising of 1846, and replaced at once by another, much downstream, composed of a outfall fixes in oblique, and of a mobile navigable master key with 70 m broad needles.

1863: the channel is repurchased by the State which undertakes great alterations to make it more competitive compared to the Railway already very aggressive.

1890-1905: Setting with the Gauge Freycinet. The locks are brought back to 10, with dimensions of 39 m out of 5,20 Mr. Three groups of two very brought closer locks are transformed into locks of high fall, the three mentioned above. Damping is increased to 2,20 m, the headroom with 3,50. The boats can carry 250 tons, and sometimes even 280.

The engineer in charge of this work is celebrates it Leonce-Abel Mazoyer (1846-1910), author of the Pont-canal of Briare. He is assisted by ordinary engineer Lesierre.

In 1909, the stopping of 1846 is replaced by a third work, a little upstream, entirely mobile. This stopping is modernized in 1939, then restored at the beginning of 2005.

The apogee of transport on this channel is in 1917. Nevertheless, the fall of its freight will be dramatic only as from the years 1960 and especially 1970. One even speaks to cover it partly to make a Fast track of it.

In June 1992: The CCI of Roanne decides the stop of the commercial exploitation of the wearing of Roanne. The pleasure sailing already took over. Consequently, the wearing of Roanne starts to be refitted for this use.

The channel is managed and maintained (after a fashion, because of the reduced manpower: 15 people in all and for all) by DDE of Nievre, subdivision of Decize. It is with horse, for a third each one, on three departments, the the Loire, the Saône-et-Loire and the Allier which belong to three different areas: The Rhone-Alps, Burgundy and Auvergne, which does not go in the direction of a simplification of its management.

It still belongs to the inland Waterways of France, i.e. in the State. But its sale with the local government agencies is considered within the framework of the installation of a " network régional" reserved for tourism.

List locks

  1. Roanne

  2. Cornillon
  3. Briennon
  4. Artaix (formerly two brought closer locks)
  5. Montgrailloux
  6. Chambilly
  7. Borough-the-Count (formerly two brought closer locks)
  8. Chassenard (formerly two brought closer locks)
  9. Beugnets
  10. Breton

Ports

External bonds

  • the River-Loire: all the history of the channel, first part
  • the River-Loire: all the history of the channel, second part
  • Dictionary of the rivers and channels in the Babel Project: the channel of Roanne with Digoin

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