Écluse 15 Languevoisin - Canal du Nord - Languevoisin-Quiquery - Somme 80 - France - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

This is lock number 15 on the Canal du Nord and is known as Languevoisin. It is situated about a kilometre north-east on the village of Languevoisin-Quiquery in the Somme département 80.

The majority of the 19 locks on this canal are between 6 and 8 metres deep and consequently stepped bollards are built into the lock walls. The bottom gates are of the guillotine type rather than the usual double swinging gates. The locks are operated by calling a control centre on VHF radio. The VHF channels alternate between 18 and 22 for each alternate lock. Each lock has a modern control tower and they were originally all manned but nowadays they are empty apart from those that act as a control centre.

Many of the locks have a lock cottage alongside. Also, many of them were built with massive side ponds that are used during lock operations in order to save half a lockful of water on each turn. These side ponds are still in use today.


The following information is taken from frenchwaterways.com:

This 95km-long canal has been a curiosity since it was first planned, the only canal to be built in France to intermediate dimensions between the 250-tonne Freycinet and the modern high-capacity standards. It is now to be abandoned within a few years, after an operating lifetime of less than 60 years, taken over by the future Seine-Nord Europe Canal.

The distance of 95km from Arleux, near Douai on the Canal de la Sensée (now the Dunkerque-Escaut waterway), to the junction with the Canal latéral à l’Oise at Pont-l’Evêque, is divided into three sections:

Section 1 extends from Arleux on the Canal de la Sensée to Péronne on the Canal de la Somme (PK 45), section 2 is a redeveloped length of the Canal de la Somme from Péronne to a junction near Rouy-le-Petit (PK 65), and section 3 connects the Canal de la Somme to Pont-l’Evêque on the Canal latéral à l’Oise (PK 95).

The first and third sections cross low watersheds, and their summit levels have impressive tunnels. The Grand Souterrain de Ruyaulcourt, on the summit level of the first section (PK 25-29) has a total length of 4,350m. It is divided into three sections. The first 1,600m from each portal is of single barge width (6.30m), while the 1,150m middle portion is of double width (12.30m). Thus north and southbound barges enter simultan­eously at each end, pass each other in the middle portion and exit simultaneously from each end. There is a remote monitoring and traffic control system with lights, ensuring the minimum delays to barges on this busy route.

The Souterrain de la Panneterie, on the summit level of the third section, is 1,100m in length. Its dimensions provide for one-way working only, with entrance controlled by lights as at Ruyaulcourt.

The canal is a busy commercial waterway, and boaters may prefer the parallel Canal de Saint-Quentin. Imposing works will be in progress throughout almost the entire length from 2017 until the new canal is opened at the end of the 2020s (as currently projected). A short length with two existing locks and one new lock will be maintained to give access from the new canal to the Canal de la Somme at Péronne.

History – Excavation for the canal started in 1908, when the parallel Canal de Saint-Quentin had reached saturation, despite its paired locks throughout. By 1914 three quarters of the earthworks as well as a number of the locks and bridges had been completed. Following wartime destruction several attempts were made to restart the project, but little was achieved in the inter-war period. The rapid economic growth experienced by France in the 1950s saw a marked increase in bulk transport requirements between the Seine basin and the north, and it again became urgent to complete the project. The works were carried out in the early 1960s and the canal opened to navigation in 1966.

Waterway Name: Canal du Nord Connected Points: The Canal du Nord starts near Douai on the Canal de la Sensée and travels south to the junction with the Canal latéral à l’Oise at Pont-l’Evêque. Along its route it has a link to the westbound Canal de la Somme at Péronne and the abandoned eastbound Canal de la Somme at Rouy-le-Petit. Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1966 Elevation Difference (meters): 6.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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