Ecluse 3 Berry - Canal Latéral à l'Aisne - Berry-au-Bac - France
Posted by: ntpayne
N 49° 23.920 E 003° 54.120
31U E 565445 N 5472166
This is lock 3 on the canal latéral à l'Aisne and is called Berry.
Waymark Code: WM11G2V
Location: Grand-Est, France
Date Posted: 10/18/2019
Views: 8
This is lock 3 on the canal latéral à l'Aisne and is called Berry. It is situated at the village of Berry-au-Bac near the junction with the canal de l'Aisne à la Marne.
The 51 kilometre long canal only has seven locks and they are all automatically operated. Locks 1 and 2 are operated by twisting a pole 100 metres before the lock. The other locks are operated by using a télécommande which is given to the boater when they join the canal and handed in as they leave.
This is a commercial canal and is therefore open all year around. The locks take a maximum boat size of 39 metres by 5.05 metres.
History (from FrenchWaterways.com) – The river Aisne was a commercial navigation as early as the Gallo-Roman period, and the river was navigated by rafts from a long distance above the present limit of navigation at Vailly-sur-Aisne until the mid-19th century. The large-scale canalisation works were begun in 1836, at the same time as construction of the lateral canal. The canal was completed first, in 1841, then two years later the river navigation. The waterway remains in the strategic national network. Commercial traffic in péniches carrying 220 tonnes is still several hundred thousand tonnes per year. Recreational traffic is mainly private boats. For many years there was discussion of the possibility of upgrading the river to high-capacity European standards, to serve the port of Reims or even as the first stage of a Seine-Moselle waterway.
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