Écluse 7/8 Celles - Canal Latéral à l'Aisne - Celles-sur-Aisne - France
Posted by: ntpayne
N 49° 24.072 E 003° 29.043
31U E 535119 N 5472168
This is a double staircase lock called Celles and is lock number 7/8.
Waymark Code: WM11G9X
Location: Grand-Est, France
Date Posted: 10/20/2019
Views: 9
This is a double staircase lock called Celles and is lock number 7/8. The lock is situated just to the south of the town of Celles-sur-Aisne.
This is a double staircase lock and the top chamber has an elevation of 2.75 metres and the lower one 2.52 metres. It is unusual to find a staircase lock that is operated automatically.
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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