The Blavet (; br, Blavezh) river flows from central

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

and enters the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

on the south coast near

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

. It is long. The river is canalised for most of its length, forming one of the links in the Brittany canal system. It connects with the

Canal de Nantes à Brest Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow und ...

at Pontivy and runs to Hennebont, a distance of 60 km. From the last lock at Polvern, the river is tidal and considered as a maritime waterway, giving access to the seaport of Lorient and the Atlantic Ocean. It became more important when the western half of that system was cut off by the construction of the Guerlédan dam and

hydropower plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

. Today, boats coming from Nantes via

Redon Redon (; ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Redon borders the Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique departments. It is situated at the junction of t ...

have to take the Canal du Blavet in order to reach the ocean near Lorient. The source of the Blavet is east of Bulat-Pestivien,

Côtes-d'Armor The Côtes-d'Armor (, ; ; br, Aodoù-an-Arvor, ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord ( br, Aodoù-an-Hanternoz, link=no, ), are a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.

. It flows through the following ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

s'' and towns: *

Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem are called ''pélemois'' in French. History Prehistory The cairn of Croaz Dom ...

Gouarec Gouarec (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Gouarec are called ''gouarécains'' in French. See also *Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department The following is a lis ...

Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...

Pontivy Pontivy (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. Inhabitants of Pontivy are called ''Pontivyens'' in French. Map History A ...

Hennebont Hennebont (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in the region of Brittany in north-western France. Geography Hennebont is situated about ten miles from the mouth of the River Blavet, which divides it into two parts: the ''Ville Close'' ...

Among its tributaries are the

Ével The Ével (; br, Evel) is a long river in the Morbihan ''département'', western France. Its source is near ''la Bottine'', a hamlet in Radenac. It flows generally west-southwest. It is a left tributary of the Blavet into which it flows between ...

and the

Scorff The Scorff (; br, Skorf) River flows from central Brittany and enters the Atlantic Ocean on the south coast in Lorient. The Scorff rises north of Langoëlan, in the Morbihan department, and flows through the towns of Guémené-sur-Scorff and ...

History

The canalisation works were carried out by order of Napoleon in 1802 to provide access to the strategic military town of Pontivy. Like the entire Brittany canal network, its ''raison d’être'' was military defence in case of a naval blockade of the coast by the British Navy. Works began in 1804 and were completed in 1825.

Navigation

The waterway has little recreational traffic because of the large number of locks in the watershed section of the Nantes-Brest canal between Pontivy and Rohan, and the effective barrier of Guerlédan Dam to the west.

References

External links

Canal du Blavet
navigation guide; places, ports and moorings on the canal, by the author of ''Inland Waterways of France'', Imray
Navigation details for 80 French rivers and canals
(French waterways website section) {{Authority control 0Blavet Rivers of France Rivers of Brittany Rivers of Côtes-d'Armor Rivers of Morbihan Canals in France