The balancing of incoming and outgoing water allows the

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 considere ...

to operate as it does. Each time a lock operates, large quantities of water are either required to fill it or dump from it into the lower level pound. There must be a constant source of water in order to fill and the excess water dumped must have a place to exit the canal without it overflowing. Being able to provide this water source was one of the most important problems to be solved by

Pierre Paul Riquet Stele in Toulouse Cathedral Pierre-Paul Riquet, Baron de Bonrepos (29 June 1609 (some sources say 1604) – 4 October 1680) was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi. Background Paul Riquet was bo ...

, its creator. In the canal's original configuration of 1687, water was provided by the Rigole de la plaine from the River Sor and from the Bassin de Saint-Ferréol. The Bassin de Lampy was added later. Since the drought of 1989-1990, water can also be made available from the

Lac de Montbel The Lac de Montbel is a reservoir 5 minutes from Chalabre, which is a popular location for watersports and swimming. It is located at Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers on the border between the Ariège and Aude ''départements'' of southwestern France. ...

. Water leaving the canal between locks, will exit through either a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

(french: déversoir) or a

siphon A siphon (from grc, σίφων, síphōn, "pipe, tube", also spelled nonetymologically syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in a ...

(french: Épanchoir). Leaving through the

, the water simply flows over the side of the canal via a stone or concrete ledge. If the water reaches a specific level, it may be siphoned off via a stone

. } and the ''canal vieux''. , - , S , , 119.0 , ,

Épanchoir de Ste-Julia The balancing of incoming and outgoing water allows the Canal du Midi to operate as it does. Each time a lock operates, large quantities of water are either required to fill it or dump from it into the lower level pound. There must be a constant ...

, , , , , - , W , , 125.1 , , Déversoir de Marseillette , , , , , - , S , , 140.5 , ,

Épanchoir d'Argentdouble The balancing of incoming and outgoing water allows the Canal du Midi to operate as it does. Each time a lock operates, large quantities of water are either required to fill it or dump from it into the lower level pound. There must be a constant ...

, , , , , - , S , , 167.7 , ,

Épanchoir des Patiasses The balancing of incoming and outgoing water allows the Canal du Midi to operate as it does. Each time a lock operates, large quantities of water are either required to fill it or dump from it into the lower level pound. There must be a constant ...

, , , ,

Notes

: Distance in km from the beginning of the canal in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

CanalMidi.com

The Canal du Midi - "Seuil de Naurouze"
Canal du Midi

See also

Notes

References

External links