The lifts on the Canal du Centre are a series of four hydraulic

boat lift A boat lift, ship lift, or lift lock is a machine for transporting boats between water at two different elevations, and is an alternative to the canal lock. It may be vertically moving, like the Anderton boat lift in England, rotational, like ...

s near the town of

La Louvière La Louvière (; wa, El Lovire) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Houdeng-Aimeries, Houde ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

which are classified as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

. All four are located on the Canal du Centre in Belgium's historic

sillon industriel The ''Sillon industriel'' (, "industrial furrow") is the former industrial backbone of Belgium. It runs across the region of Wallonia, passing from Dour, the region of Borinage, in the west, to Verviers in the east, passing along the way throug ...

industrial belt.

History and current status

Along a particular stretch of the Canal du Centre, which connects the river basins of the

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 ...

and the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

, the water level rises by . To overcome this difference, the lift at Houdeng-Goegnies was opened in 1888. The other three lifts, each with a rise, opened in 1917. The elevators are double, consisting of two vertically mobile tanks or caissons, each supported in the centre by an iron column. The two columns are hydraulically linked in such a way that one caisson rises as the other descends, the weight of one counterbalancing the weight of the other. These lifts were designed by Edwin Clark from the British company Clark, Stansfield & Clark. The lifts were part of the inspiration behind the

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

and

Kirkfield Lift Lock The Kirkfield Lift Lock is a boat lift located in the city of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada, near the village of Kirkfield. It is designated "Lock 36" of the Trent–Severn Waterway, situated at the highest section of the canal (256.2 m). It i ...

s in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. In the late 19th century Richard Birdsall Rogers visited the locks as to understand and study possible ideas for a lift lock system. These industrial monuments were designated by

as a

in 1998. The assemblage combines the four lifts with a variety of associated auxiliary buildings. Of the eight hydraulic lift locks built in the late 19th and early 20th century, the four on the Canal du Centre are the only ones still functioning in their original form. Since 2002, operation of the lifts has been limited to recreational use. Commercial traffic now bypasses the old lifts and is handled by the enormous

Strépy-Thieu boat lift The Strépy-Thieu boat lift (french: L'ascenseur funiculaire de Strépy-Thieu) lies on a branch of the Canal du Centre in the municipality of Le Rœulx, Hainaut, Belgium. With a height difference of between the upstream and downstream reac ...

, whose rise of 73m was the highest in the world upon completion. Following an accident in January 2002, in which a malfunctioning elevator began rising as a motor barge was exiting, lift no. 1 was taken out of service. During the repair work, which began in 2005, a thorough restoration was undertaken.

Lifts

External links

Description from UNESCO

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lifts On The Old Canal Du Centre Canal Du Centre World Heritage Sites in Belgium Wallonia's Major Heritage Buildings and structures in Hainaut (province) Protected heritage sites in Hainaut (province) Tourist attractions in Hainaut (province) La Louvière