The Canal de la Meuse is the current name of what used to be the northern branch of the Canal de l'Est ("canal of the east"). It is a canal in northeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, predominantly made up of the canalised river

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 ...

. The Canal de l'Est was built from 1874 to 1887 to provide a waterway inside the new border with Prussia after the Franco-Prussian War, Overall, the canal had a total length of . In 2003, the northern and southern branches were officially renamed Canal de la Meuse and Canal des Vosges respectively.Canal de l'Est in ''Dictionnaire des rivières et canaux de France''
/ref>

Canal de la Meuse (formerly Canal de l'Est, northern branch)

The Canal de la Meuse starts at

Givet Givet () (german: Gibet Walloon: ''Djivet'') is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France surrounded on three sides by the Belgian border. It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont. It ...

in the Ardennes département. It follows the Meuse upstream, passing through Mouzon, Fumay,

Revin Revin () is a commune in the Ardennes department in the Grand Est region in northern France. Revin is situated on the banks of the Meuse. The Revin Pumped Storage Power Plant is near Revin. Population Personalities Yazid Mansouri, the Al ...

, Nouzonville,

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

, Sedan, Stenay,

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

Saint-Mihiel Saint-Mihiel () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography Saint-Mihiel lies on the banks of the river Meuse. History A Benedictine abbey was established here in 708 or 709 by Count Wulfoalde and his wif ...

and

Commercy Commercy () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The 18th-century Lorraine historian Nicolas Luton Durival (1713–1795) was born in Commercy. History Commercy dates back to the 9th century, and at that tim ...

, and joins the

Canal de la Marne au Rhin 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 Troussey. This canal is long. For most of its length, the canal is the canalised river Meuse.

Canal des Vosges (formerly southern branch)

Golbey,_Canal_des_Vosges,_Embranchement_d'Épinal_1

Originally, the southern branch of the Canal de l'Est started at

Toul Toul () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Toul is between Commercy and Nancy, and the river Moselle and Canal de la Marne au Rhin. Climate Toul ...

, where it branched off the Canal de la Marne au Rhin. Since the Moselle has been made navigable for high-capacity barges up to

Neuves-Maisons Neuves-Maisons (, literally ''New Houses'') is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France, on the banks of the Moselle. The city had a great steel industry during the 19th and 20th century. Neuves-Maisons erected a ...

, the part of the Canal de l'Est between Toul and Neuves-Maisons is considered part of the Moselle. The canal follows the Moselle upstream through Charmes and

Thaon-les-Vosges Thaon-les-Vosges (; before 2022: ''Capavenir Vosges'') is a commune in the Vosges department of northeastern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 and consists of the former communes of Thaon-les-Vosges, Girmont and Oncourt.< ...

until

Golbey Golbey () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It lies on the left bank of the Moselle, directly north of Épinal. Population See also *Communes of the Vosges department The following is a list of the 50 ...

, north of

Épinal Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department. Geography The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connecti ...

, where it leaves the Moselle valley. It passes through Les Forges and enters the valley of the Côney near

Uzemain Uzemain () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Geography The Côney forms part of the commune's eastern border, flows westward through the southern part of the commune, crosses the village, and forms part ...

. It follows the Côney downstream until its confluence with the

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name ...

Corre Corre () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Geography The Côney flows southward through the middle of the commune, crosses the village, then flows into the Saône, which fo ...

in the

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.List of canals in France This is a list of the navigable canals and rivers in France. For reference purposes, all waterways are listed, including many that have been abandoned for navigation, mostly in the period 1925-1955, but some in later years. Although several source ...

References

External links

Canal de la Meuse
navigation guide; places, ports and moorings on the canal, by the author of ''Inland Waterways of France'', Imray
Canal des Vosges
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) *, hydrological and Meuse catchment area data {{Authority control Est Canals opened in 1887