The Canal des Ardennes (, literally ''Ardennes Canal'') is a

summit level canal A summit-level canal is an artificial waterway connecting two separate river valleys. The term refers to a canal that rises to cross a summit then falls down the other side. The summit pound is a level stretch of water at the highest part of the ...

built to the

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 fr ...

between the river valleys of the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

Physical Characteristics

The Canal des Ardennes is 87.779 km long and has 44 locks (37 on the

side) with a tunnel in Saint-Aignan. As originally built it was 5.5 km longer, entering the Aisne further downstream, but this section was bypassed by the Canal latéral à l'Aisne in 1841. The canal connects the village of Pont-à-Bar (in the commune of

Dom-le-Mesnil Dom-le-Mesnil () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France. The communes coo ...

) to the junction with the lateral canal downstream of

Vieux-lès-Asfeld Vieux-lès-Asfeld (, literally ''Vieux near Asfeld'') is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes depart ...

. The first part of the canal is 39 km long and crosses the threshold between the valleys of the Meuse and the Aisne by following the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

Valley, with a short cut through a tunnel at Saint-Aignan. This section of the canal up to the summit level is supplied with water from the Lac de Bairon, with water pumped from the Meuse. After the summit is reached the canal quickly drops down to the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Semuy the canal closely follows the course of the Aisne. In places it even follows the old winding river bed, but mostly runs straight through new cuts. On the Aisne side the canal is fed directly by the river Aisne through diversion weirs at Vouziers, Rilly, Givry, Biermes, and Asfeld. On the Aisne side the Vouziers Branch, 12.066 kilometres long, rises 9 m (following the course of the river Aisne) through 4 locks to the town of

Vouziers Vouziers () is a commune of the Ardennes department, northern France. Vouziers is the burial place of the pioneer First World War fighter pilot Roland Garros, after whom the Stade Roland Garros in Paris (the location of the French Open ten ...

. The canal has two separate sections and two series of locks, as if it were made up of two distinct canals. The first is the portion from the Meuse to the Aisne river at the junction with the Vouziers Branch (Pont-à-Bar to Semuy, 39 km). The second is the entire length parallel to the Aisne beginning at Vouziers and continuing parallel to the Aisne to Vieux-lès-Asfeld (61 km). *Altitude at Vieux-lès-Asfeld: 60.55 metres. *Altitude at Pont-à-Bar: 151.30 metres. *Altitude at the summit level: 165 metres. *Average lock height: 2.68 metres. **Aisne side: 2.70 metres. **Meuse side: 2.57 metres.

History

The first canal projects in the region date from 1684 under the Louvois ministry and consisted of using and extending the course of the

which was then navigable. Various proposals were made over the decades and, in letters patent of June 1776 – almost a century later – the

Prince of Conti The title of Prince of Conti (French: ''prince de Conti'') was a French noble title, assumed by a cadet branch of the princely house of Bourbon-Condé. History The title derives its name from Conty, a small town in northern France, c. 35 km ...

was granted the privilege of its construction and operation. The prince died shortly after and nothing was done. After the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

of 1789 the National Constituent Assembly relaunched the project but found fault with previous studies and the project did not proceed.Ernest Grangez
''Precise History and Statistics of navigable waterways in France and parts of Belgium''
Imprimerie centrale de Napoléon Chaix & Cie, 1855, 796 pages, p. 45 In "Year VIII" (1800), the local general councilors reminded the government of the project. The prefect Joseph Frain supported and argues for the canal, on the basis of a new route, in a report on 4 October 1800 to the Interior Minister,

Lucien Bonaparte Lucien Bonaparte, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano (born Luciano Buonaparte; 21 May 1775 – 29 June 1840), was French politician and diplomat of the French Revolution and the Consulate. He served as Minister of the Interior from 1799 to 1800 ...

. The subsequent Interior Minister, the scientist

Jean-Antoine Chaptal Jean-Antoine Chaptal, comte de Chanteloup (5 June 1756 – 30 July 1832) was a French chemist, physician, agronomist, industrialist, statesman, educator and philanthropist. His multifaceted career unfolded during one of the most brilliant periods ...

, agreed to undertake construction but granted only very limited funds. Work began slowly It became more important during the Bourbon Restoration with the launch in 1820 of a loan to finance the project. The opening of the canal took place between 1827 and 1835 with modernization between 1842 and 1846. The Vouziers Branch was opened to shipping in 1836. For the part parallel to the Aisner downstream of Lock No. 26 at Rilly initially, until the dams were built, these parts of the navigable canal were connected by a series of artificial reaches. From 1842 to 1845 improvements were being made, in particular through the creation of the reservoir and the artificial Lake Bairon.

Appearance of a Weed

The plant '' Matricaria discoidea'' (Pineapple weed, wild Chamomile), a native of North America, appeared in 1861 along the Canal des Ardennes and then from 1880 to 1895 in the North of France. It spread so rapidly that it displaced the native ''

Tripleurospermum inodorum ''Tripleurospermum inodorum'', common names scentless false mayweed, scentless mayweed, scentless chamomile, wild chamomile, mayweed, false chamomile, and Baldr's brow, is the type species of Tripleurospermum. This plant is native to Eurasia and ...

'' "to seem as native as he".

Alfred Giard Alfred Mathieu Giard (8 August 1846 – 8 August 1908) was a French zoologist born in Valenciennes. Biography In 1867 he began his studies of natural sciences at the École Normale Supérieure, followed by work as ''préparateur de zoologie'' a ...

''On a fast-spreading weed (Matricaria discoidea D. C)''
in the ''Feuille des jeunes naturalistes'', vol. 31-33, 1900-1903, p. 188 states: "The ''Catalogue of Vascular Plants of Ardennes'' (Charleville, 1900), a posthumous work by Albert Callay, tells us (p. 249) that ''M. discoidea'' was seen in June 1861 by Bouffray on the Canal des Ardennes dike near the Rilly Lock. At that time the plant was not reported by Reichenbach except around the village of Schoeneberg near Berlin. Callay guessed that the Ardennes location, where the plant had also not previously been seen, came from seeds mixed in cereal made for the Rilly mill."

Ports

*The most important port is

Rethel Rethel () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture and third-most important city and economic center in the department. It is situated on the river Aisne, near the northern border of Champagne and 37& ...

*There are Marinas or stops in: Rethel, Attigny, Semuy,

, and Le Chesne

Canel des Ardennes Picture Gallery

File:Canal des Ardennes Ecluse 4 Saint-Aignan.jpg, Lock 4 near the tunnel File:Canal des Ardennes Ecluse 5 Saint-Aignan.jpg, Lock 5 at Saint-Aignan File:Canal des Ardennes à Omicourt.JPG, The Canal at Omicourt File:Canal des Ardennes pres de Vendresse (Fr).jpg, The Canal at Vendresse File:Malmy (Ardennes) et les crues de la Bar (janvier 2012).JPG, The Canal at Malmy File:Ambly-sur-Bar-FR-08-pont du canal-02.jpg, A bridge at Ambly-sur-Bar File:Canal des Ardennes à La Cassine.jpg, The Canal at La Cassine File:Le Chesne (Ardennes, Fr), church and Canal des Ardennes.JPG, The Canal at Le Chesne File:Montgon-08-écluses-04.jpg , Lock at Montgon File:Canal des Ardennes, Vallée des écluses,.JPG, The "Valley of Locks" File:Semuy-FR-08-canal de Vouziers-02.jpg, The Canal at Semuy File:Canal de Vouziers à Vrizy (Ardennes, Fr).JPG, The Canal de Vouziers at Vrizy File:Rilly-aux-Oies-FR-08-Saint-Irénée-canal des Ardennes-01.jpg, The locks at Rilly File:Attigny port Canal des Ardennes.JPG, Attigny Port File:Attigny-FR-08-canal des Ardennes-08.JPG, The Canal at Attigny File:Ambly-Fleury (Ardennes) city limit sign and bridge Canal des Ardennes.JPG, The bridge over the canal at Ambly-Fleury File:Thugny-Trugny, Canal des Ardennes écluse nr 8 (04 bateau en écluse eau haute).JPG, Lock 8 at Thugny-Trugny File:Thugny-Trugny-FR-08-écluse-01.jpg, Lock 1 at Thugny-Trugny File:Aire (Ardennes) Canal des Ardennes.JPG, The Canal at Aire File:Vieux-lès-Asfeld (Ardennes) Canal des Ardennes, écluse.JPG, Lock at Vieux-les-Asfeld

Images of Detailed Maps of the Canal

File:Canal des Ardennes - de Château-Porcien à l'Aisne.jpg, Canal des Ardennes: Château-Porcien to Brienne-sur-Aisne File:Canal des Ardennes - section Rethel.jpg, Canal des Ardennes: Biermes to Nanteuil-sur-Aisne File:Canal des Ardennes - de Neuville-Day à Thugny.jpg, Canal des Ardennes: Neuville-Day to Thugny-Trugny File:Canal de Vouziers.jpg, Canal de Vouziers File:Canal des Ardennes - bief du Chesne.jpg, Canal des Ardennes: Summit level (Le Chesne & Bairon) to Semuy File:Canal des Ardennes - versant Meuse.jpg, Canal des Ardennes: Northern side towards the Meuse

Sources

By date of Publication *J. Dutens
''History of inland navigation in France''
vol. 1, Paris, A. Sautelet & Cie and Alexander Mesnier, 1829, 651 p., pp. 536–550 *Jean-Baptiste Victor Vifquain
''Waterways in Belgium, Historical Considerations followed by various proposals aimed at improving and extending navigation''
Brussels, Em Devroye, 1842, 497 pp., p. 122-128 *Ernest Grangez
''Precise history and statistics on the navigable waterways of France and part of Belgium''
Imprimerie Cantrale Chaix Napoleon & Cie, 1855, 796 p., p. 44-51 *Pierre Berthot
''Treatise on roads, rivers and canals''
vol. 3, Paris, Fanchon and Artus, 1898, 959 p., pp. 747–748 *Gilles Demuth and Jean Tulard (preface), ''Ardennes under the First Empire: Prefect Frain (1800-1814)'', Revue Historique Ardennaise, Vol. XVII, 1982, pp. 133–248

References

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Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

Buildings and structures in Ardennes (department) Transport in Grand Est Canals opened in 1831