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Agde Round Lock
The Agde Round Lock (french: L'Écluse Ronde d'Agde) is a canal lock on the Canal du Midi that connects to the Hérault River in Agde France. It is almost unique because it is round, which allows a boat to turn around, and the fact that it has three sets of lock gates, each with a different water level. It was built in 1676 of volcanic stone and was originally 29.20 m in diameter, 5.20 m deep. The lock is no longer ''round''. It was expanded during a program begun in 1978 to expand locks to the Freycinet gauge to allow for barges up to 38.50 metres long. Originally, buildings in the area of the lock included an administration building, stables, shops, and a chapel. The exits are to Béziers via the western section of the Canal du Midi, to Étang de Thau via the upper Hérault river and the eastern section of the Canal du Midi, and south to the Mediterranean via the lower Hérault river. A second French round lock can be found in the form of the now-disused Écluse des Lorrai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canal Du Midi
The Canal du Midi (; ) is a long canal in Southern France (french: le Midi). Originally named the ''Canal royal en Languedoc'' (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ''Canal du Midi'' in 1789, the canal is considered one of the greatest construction works of the 17th century. The canal connects the Garonne to the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean and, along with the long Canal de Garonne, forms the Canal des Deux Mers, joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Strictly speaking, ''"Canal du Midi"'' refers to the portion initially constructed from Toulouse to the Mediterranean – the Deux-Mers canal project aimed to link together several sections of navigable waterways to join the Mediterranean and the Atlantic: first the Canal du Midi, then the Garonne which was more or less navigable between Toulouse and Bordeaux, then the Garonne Lateral Canal built later, and finally the Gironde estuary after Bordeaux. Jean-Baptiste Colbert authorized t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voies Navigables De France
(VNF, en, Navigable Waterways of France) is the French navigation authority responsible for the management of the majority of France's inland waterways network and the associated facilities—towpaths, commercial and leisure ports, lock-keeper's houses and other structures. VNF was established in 1991 and took over the responsibility for all waterways from the National Office of Navigation (french: Office National de la Navigation) in 1993. It is a public body and is under the control of the Minister of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Territorial Development (french: Ministère de l'Écologie, de l'Energie, du Développement durable et de l'Aménagement du territoire). The headquarters of VNF are in Béthune, Pas-de-Calais with local offices throughout France. French waterways network The French natural and man-made waterways network is the largest in Europe extending to over of which VNF manages the navigable sections. The assets managed by VNF comprise of wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lock (water Transport)
A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is the chamber itself (usually then called a caisson) that rises and falls. Locks are used to make a river more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to cross land that is not level. Later canals used more and larger locks to allow a more direct route to be taken. Pound lock A ''pound lock'' is most commonly used on canals and rivers today. A pound lock has a chamber with gates at both ends that control the level of water in the pound. In contrast, an earlier design with a single gate was known as a flash lock. Pound locks were first used in China during the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), having been pioneered by the Song politician and naval en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hérault (river)
The Hérault (; oc, Erau) is a river in southern France. Its length is . Its source is on the slopes of Mont Aigoual in the Cévennes mountains. It reaches the Mediterranean Sea near Agde. Name The river was known in Latin as ''Arauris'' (or ''Araura'' by Strabo). The name is sometimes considered Pre-Celtic although the element ''Ara-'' suggests a Celtic root.http://docshare02.docshare.tips/files/28516/285161581.pdf Towns The Hérault flows through the following departments and towns: *Gard: Valleraugue. *Hérault (named after the river): Ganges, Pézenas (nearby), Agde. Tributaries Navigation The lower reaches of the Hérault, from Bessan to the sea at Agde, are navigable. The lowest are tidal, whilst the next forms part of the Canal du Midi. These two sections of the river are linked to each other, and to the Canal du Midi to the west, by short junction canals and the famous Agde Round Lock. At the upper end of the section of the Hérault used by the Canal du Midi, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agde
Agde (; ) is a commune in the Hérault department in Southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi. Location Agde is located on the Hérault river, from the Mediterranean Sea, and from Paris. The Canal du Midi connects to the Hérault river at the Agde Round Lock ("L'Écluse Ronde d'Agde") just north of Agde, and the Hérault flows into the Mediterranean at Le Grau d'Agde. Agde station has high speed rail connections to Paris and Perpignan, and regional services to Narbonne, Montpellier and Avignon. History Foundation Agde (525 BCE) is one of the oldest towns in France, after Béziers (575 BCE) and Marseille (600 BCE). Agde ('' Agathe Tyche'', "good fortune") was a 5th-century BCE Greek colony settled by Phocaeans from Massilia. The Greek name was Agathe ( grc, Ἀγάθη). The symbol of the city, the bronze ''Ephebe of Agde'', of the 4th century BCE, recovered from the fluvial sands of the Hérault, was joined in December 2001 by two Early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freycinet Gauge
The Freycinet gauge (french: gabarit Freycinet) is a standard governing the dimensions of the locks of some canals, put in place as a result of a law passed during the tenure of Charles de Freycinet as minister of public works of France, dating from 5 August 1879. The law required the size of lock chambers to be increased to a length of , a width of and a minimum water depth of , thus allowing 300 to 350 tonne barges to pass through. Consequently, boats and barges, such as the péniche, built to the Freycinet gauge could not exceed in length, in breadth and a draught of . Bridges and other structures built across the canals are required to provide of clearance. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries many French canals were modernised to conform to the Freycinet standard. By 2001, of navigable waterways in France corresponded to the Freycinet gauge, accounting for 23% of waterborne traffic. European Classification The Freycinet gauge corresponds to the Classi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Béziers
Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hosts the famous ''Feria de Béziers'', which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event. The town is located on a small Cliff, bluff above the river Orb (river), Orb, about from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast and southwest of Montpellier. At Béziers, the Canal du Midi passes over the river Orb by means of the ''Orb Aqueduct, Pont-canal de l'Orb'', an Navigable aqueduct, aqueduct claimed to be the first of its kind. History Béziers is one of the oldest cities in France. Research published in March 2013 shows that Béziers dates from 575 BC, making it older than Agde (Greek Agathe Tyche, founded in 525 BC) and a bit younger than Marseille (Greek Massalia, founded in 600 BC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Étang De Thau
The Étang de Thau (; oc, Estanh de Taur) or Bassin de Thau is the largest of a string of lagoons (''étangs'') that stretch along the French coast from the Rhône river to the foothills of the Pyrenees and the border to Spain in the Languedoc-Roussillon. Although it has a high salinity, it is considered the second largest lake in France. Description It is about 21 km long and 8 km wide, with an area of . The mean depth of the lagoon is 4.5 m, but in the central navigation channel it can be 10 m deep. Near Bouzigues there is a 100-metre diameter depression of 30 metres. This 'Fosse de la Vise' is the source of a hot spring that feeds the spa in Balaruc. Its size and depth, which distinguish it from other lagoons of the region, is explained by the geomorphology of the region: it is the syncline formed from folding which produced the corresponding anticline of the Gardiole in the north east. Until relatively recently the lagoons from Marseillan to the Rhône wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The Sea has played a central role in the history of Western civilization. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago. The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about , representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa—is only wide. The Mediterranean Sea e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canal Latéral à La Loire
The Canal latéral à la Loire (, "canal parallel to the Loire") was constructed between 1827 and 1838 to connect the Canal de Briare at Briare and the Canal du Centre at Digoin, a distance of . It replaced the use of the river Loire, which was unreliable during winter floods and summer droughts. Aqueducts were used to cross the Allier at Le Guétin (in the commune of Cuffy) and the Loire at Digoin. However, because of the extreme length required, an aqueduct was not built to cross the Loire at Briare until 1896, when the Briare aqueduct was constructed. History By the late 18th century with the completion of the Canal du Centre, the Bourbonnais route from the Seine to the Saône was substantially the same as at present, except for the use of the navigable Loire between Briare and Digoin. The introduction of steam haulage and dredging failed to produce the reliability of the canals, so it was in 1822 that the order to build was finally given to the ''Compagnie des Quatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allier (river)
The Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a river in central France. It is a left tributary of the Loire. Its source is in the Massif Central, in the Lozère department, east of Mende. It flows generally north. It joins the Loire west of the city of Nevers. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . Departments and towns The Allier flows through the following departments, and along the following towns: * Allier: Moulins, Varennes-sur-Allier, Vichy, Saint-Yorre * Ardèche - the river runs along the border between this department and Lozère * Cher: Mornay-sur-Allier, Château-sur-Allier * Haute-Loire: Brioude, Langeac, Monistrol-d'Allier * Lozère: Langogne, La Bastide-Puylaurent * Nièvre * Puy-de-Dôme: Brassac-les-Mines, Auzat-sur-Allier, Issoire, Cournon-d'Auvergne, Pont-du-Château, Cournon-d'Auvergne Tributaries The main tributaries of the Allier are: * Chapeauroux (left side) * Senouire (right side) * Alagnon (left side) * Anse * Couze Pavin (left side) * Dore (right si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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