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The Seine–Nord Europe Canal (, ) is a planned high-capacity (''grand gabarit'') canal in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
that would link the
Oise River The Oise ( ; ) is a river of Belgium and France, flowing for from its source in the Belgian province of Hainaut, south of Chimay. It crosses the border with France after about , and flows into the Seine at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a north-wes ...
at
Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...
with the Dunkirk-Scheldt Canal, east of
Arleux Arleux () is a commune in the Nord département in northern France. Geography The river Sensée joins the Canal du Nord at Arleux. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 comm ...
. It is the French part of a proposed Seine-
Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...
canal that would ultimately connect the Rhine and Seine basins inland. The stated objective is to expand trade flows in a fuel-efficient and ecologically friendly manner between the Seine basin and
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, while reducing saturation on the A1 motorway in France and reducing the emissions in the transport sector within this corridor. Completion is expected in 2030. The canal will be the French section of the Seine-Scheldt European waterway, which includes further major investments on the Dunkirk-Scheldt Canal, on the river Lys/Leie in Flanders and on the waterways in Wallonia. It will run from just north of
Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...
, to the Dunkirk-Scheldt Canal, crossing the regions of
Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
and
Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (; ; West Flemish: ''Nôord-Nauw van Kales'') was a former regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new Regions of France, region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the ...
. The canal will connect the
Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
and
Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...
rivers and facilitate inland water transport. When the new Seine-Nord connection is ready, it will allow large vessels to transport goods between the Seine (and the Paris area) and the ports of
Dunkerque Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
,
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
, and
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, or further into Europe. The canal will replace the
Canal de Saint-Quentin The Canal de Saint-Quentin () is a canal in northern France connecting the canalised river Escaut in Cambrai to the Canal latéral à l'Oise and Canal de l'Oise à l'Aisne in Chauny. History The canal was built in two phases, the second much l ...
and the current
Canal du Nord The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise in Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal in Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...
, increasing maximum barge capacity from 650 to 4400 tonnes.VNF, 'The canal Seine-Nord Europe project planning regional, national and European

/ref> The canal will include several large structures, including six locks and three Navigable aqueduct, aqueducts: two over the A29 and A26 motorways, and one 1330 metres long over the
Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...
. The project's budget will be
€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
4.7 billion, financed by the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, the French government, the
Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...
and
ÃŽle-de-France The ÃŽle-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...
regions and the départements
Oise Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...
,
Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...
,
Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...
and Nord. The project was called into question after a change of Government in July 2012, not ''per se'' but for its cost and the principle of a public-private partnership (PPP) which, after the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, was found to be unworkable. Significant cost reductions were deemed possible, and 'reconfiguration' of the project led to use of the line of the existing
Canal du Nord The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise in Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal in Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...
over a length of about 8 km (5 mi), lowering the summit level by 18.50 metres and thus eliminating one lock. Engineers were selected for the project in June 2015. On 21 April 2016, an ''
ordonnance In French law, an ''ordonnance'' (, "order") is a statutory instrument issued by the Council of Ministers in an area of law normally reserved for primary legislation enacted by the French Parliament. They function as temporary statutes pending ...
'' was approved by the
president of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...
, authorizing the construction of the canal and creating the ''Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe'' to manage the project.


Economic impact

The existing ''Canal du Nord'' and parallel ''Canal de Saint-Quentin'' represent a bottleneck on one of Europe's principal transport arteries. This is reflected in the current statistics: where the market share of inland water transport measured in tonne-kilometres reaches 18% in the Seine-Oise basin and 14% in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, and even more than 50% on the major waterways of Germany and
Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...
, the constraints of carrying capacity on the corridor in France limit the waterway market share to between 3 and 4% (peaking at about 5 million tonnes). Traffic is projected to reach between 15 and 18 million tonnes per year a few years after the waterway has opened. Analysis by the
European Court of Auditors The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is the supreme audit institution of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg and is one of the Institutions of the European ...
published in 2020, examined the economic case and stated that: "The Seine-Scheldt inland waterway link was approved on the basis that traffic levels on the Canal Seine Nord Europe by 2060 would be four times as high as the reference situation in 2030 without the Canal. To achieve this a significant increase in freight volumes on the axis across France and Europe is necessary. However, the statistics from the last decade do not suggest that this will occur. In addition, two specific conditions are necessary, none of which seem particularly realistic in the light of industrial trends over time: — a fourfold increase – from 2.3 million tonnes per year to 8.1 million tonnes per year – in traditional flows of construction materials moved by inland waterways using the Canal Seine Nord Europe over the 30 years following entry into service. For such a significant modal shift to come about, various accompanying conditions (e.g. tolling) would need to be put in place. — a massive diversion of containerised road traffic to waterways, resulting in 36 % of freight on the entire traffic axis being shifted onto the waterway. This would require the current proportion of freight carried by waterway on that axis to be multiplied by 38, or the share of container traffic volumes to be three times as high as it currently is for the entire Rhine river."


Environmental impact

Voies navigables de France (, VNF, ) is the French navigation authority responsible for the management of the majority of France's inland waterways network and the associated facilities—towpaths, Dock (maritime), commercial and Marina, leisure ports, lock-keeper's houses ...
, the project authority, sets out the principal environmental impacts on th
website
dedicated to the project. The CO2 emissions of a barge carrying 1500 tonnes are three times less than those of the fleet of trucks required to move this load. A single push-tow 185 m long can carry 300 containers unloaded in a maritime port, compared to 5 fully loaded trains and 200 trucks.


References


External links


Official project website
setting out the objectives and governance of the project, the players involved and the programme of works
Seine-Nord Europe Canal
- a preview with maps and details of places, ports and services and the extensive and robust water supply system (by the author of ''Inland Waterways of France'', Imray)

http://www.french-waterways.com/waterways/canals-rivers-france/ Navigation details for 80 French rivers and canals] (French waterways website section)
Inside the $5.5 billion canal that will connect Paris to European waterways – and dig up the Western Front
(CNN Article) {{DEFAULTSORT:Seine-Nord Europe Canal Canals in France Proposed canals