Écluse 28 (Sud) - Canal du Rhône au Rhin (branche sud) - Appenans - France - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

This is lock 28 on the south side of the canal du Rhône au Rhin (branch sud). It is known as écluse d'Appenans and can be found to the west of the village of the same name.

There were originally 75 locks on the south side of the summit leading down to the river Saône but the summit was lowered when the canal was upgraded to Freycinet standard between 1882 and 1904. This standard allowed for barges (péniches) of up to 38 metres in length. The top two locks (numbers 1 and 2) are now remnants and unfortunately can only be found in the winter when the vegetation dies back.


Much of the following information is taken from www.french-waterways.com.

The Canal du Rhône au Rhin (branche sud), built between 1784 and 1833, is a magnificently scenic route through the Jura, with wooded cliffs and blueish ranges of hills in the background. The two historic towns, Dole and Besançon, both have spectacular settings. It is used by large numbers of boats heading south from Germany and Switzerland to the Mediterranean, but it is also a cruising waterway in its own right, especially in the picturesque valley of the Doubs. Commercial traffic in 38.50m barges is very slight. The long-standing project to open up a new large-scale waterway on the line of the canal, providing a continuous route for Rhine shipping from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, has been abandoned (see Introduction).

The canal links the Saône at Saint-Symphorien, 4km upstream of the junction with the Canal de Bourgogne at Saint-Jean-de-Losne, to the upper Rhine (in fact the Ottmarsheim reach of the Grand Canal d’Alsace) at Niffer (PK 185). The length of the canal is 237km.

From Saint-Symphorien, a 17km canal section leads to the Doubs. Navigation then uses the course of this river for long sections as far as l’Isle-sur-le-Doubs (PK 141). From l’Isle-sur-le-Doubs to Mulhouse (PK 224) navigation is almost exclusively in man-made cut and crosses the Saône-Rhine watershed by a summit level at an altitude of 340m. From Mulhouse to Niffer, navigation follows the former Kembs-Niffer branch of the canal, which was upgraded to the 1350-tonne barge standard as part of the Upper Rhine develop­ment works.

On the through route there are two tunnels, at Thoraise (PK 59) and under the citadel at Besançon (PK 74), although boaters will often prefer to cruise through the town. Thoraise tunnel is 185m long, while that at Besançon is 394m long. Both are for one-way traffic only (6m wide). There are also numerous narrow bridge-holes (as little as 5.18m wide), aqueducts and cuttings allowing one-way passage only.

History – The first section of the Canal de Franche-Comté (as it was then called) was authorised by Burgundy Council in 1783 and completed in 1802 from the Saône to Dôle. Napoleon was seeking to develop inland waterway connections throughout the country, and the Rhône-Rhine link was of such strategic importance that he gave his name to the project. He wrote to Crétet, director of Ponts et Chaussées in 1805: ‘It is not palaces or buildings the Empire needs: it is canals and navigable rivers’. Hence the Canal Napoléon. The problem was funding. The Emperor’s administration conceived the predecessor of today’s public-private partnership model, selling existing canals to private companies, to provide funds for new links. The proceeds were diverted for the war effort, and it was not until the Becquey programme was finalised in 1821 that this vital project, now renamed ‘Canal Monsieur’, could be reactivated by the canal company created for this purpose, and completed in 1833 by the engineer Claude-François Perret. Upgrading to Freycinet standards started in 1882, and the summit level was lowered, reducing the number of locks. Works were completed in 1904. The new high-capacity Rhine-Rhône waterway would have made the canal obsolete, but the environment minister Dominique Voynet cancelled that project in 1997. The Government then funded – as compensation – the backlog of maintenance works and other improvements. The canal is to be transferred to the regions, but no timetable has been set for this operation.

Waterway Name: Canal du Rhône au Rhin (branche sud) Connected Points: The canal links the Saône at Saint-Symphorien, 4km upstream of the junction with the Canal de Bourgogne at Saint-Jean-de-Losne, to the upper Rhine (in fact the Ottmarsheim reach of the Grand Canal d’Alsace) at Niffer (PK 185). Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1833 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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