The Briare Aqueduct in central France carries the

Canal latéral à la Loire The Canal latéral à la Loire (, "canal parallel to the Loire") was constructed between 1827 and 1838 to connect the Canal de Briare at Briare and the Canal du Centre at Digoin, a distance of . It replaced the use of the river Loire, which wa ...

over the river

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

on its journey to the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributa ...

. It replaced a river-level crossing from the canal to meet the

Briare Canal The Briare Canal (french: Canal de Briare, ) is one of the oldest canals in France. Its construction started in 1604. It was the first summit level canal in Europe that was built using pound locks, connecting the Rhone-Saône and Seine valleys. ...

that was hazardous in times of flood. Between 1896 and 2003 it was the longest

navigable aqueduct Navigable aqueducts (sometimes called water bridges) are bridge structures that carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railways or roads. They are primarily distinguished by their size, carrying a larger cross-section of ...

in the world, until the opening of the

Magdeburg Water Bridge The Magdeburg Water Bridge (german: Kanalbrücke Magdeburg) is a large navigable aqueduct in central Germany, located near Magdeburg. The largest canal underbridge in Europe, it spans the river Elbe and directly connects the Mittellandkanal on the ...

. It is part of the

, not, as is commonly believed, the

History

The Briare aqueduct near

Châtillon-sur-Loire Châtillon-sur-Loire (, literally ''Châtillon on Loire'') is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. See also * Communes of the Loiret department The following is the list of the 325 communes of the Loiret department of ...

was, for a long time, the longest steel canal aqueduct in the world. The aqueduct is 662 metres long and lost its title of longest aqueduct to the

which crosses the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

and is 918 metres long. The aqueduct was designed by the engineers Léonce-Abel Mazoyer and Charles Sigault. The masonry abutments and piers were completed between 1890 and 1896 by

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...

and the steel channel was completed by Daydé & Pillé of

Creil Creil is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. The Creil station is an important railway junction. History Archaeological remains in the area include a Neolithic site as well as a late Iron Age necropolis, perhaps belonging ...

. The aqueduct was inaugurated on 16 September 1896 with the crossing of the boat ''Aristide'', belonging to Ernest Guingamp. It allowed the development of transport 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 ...

between the Loire and Seine, and is a registered historic monument in France. A 2007 view of the structure of Briare pont-canal

The aqueduct is built on fourteen piers. These piers support a single steel beam in turn supporting a steel channel which contains more than 13,000 tonnes of water, 2.2 meters deep and 6 metres wide allowing boats with a 1.8m draught to cross. The width of the aqueduct, towpaths included, is 11.5 meters and its length is 662.7 meters. There is a line of standard lamps on each side of aqueduct. Each end is marked by two ornamental columns in imitation of the

Pont Alexandre III The Pont Alexandre III is a deck arch bridge that spans the Seine in Paris. It connects the Champs-Élysées quarter with those of the Invalides and Eiffel Tower. The bridge is widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the ci ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. Eight sluices make it possible to empty the aqueduct in the event of severe freezing.

References

External links

* The French article from which this article was translated
Coeur-de-france.com, in French

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briare Aqueduct Navigable aqueducts in France Bridges completed in 1896

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links