| Canal des Ardennes | |
|---|---|
 Canal des Ardennes atRethel | |
 Interactive map of Canal des Ardennes | |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 88 km (55 mi) |
| Maximumboat length | 38.50 m (126.3 ft) |
| Maximumboat beam | 5.05 m (16.6 ft) |
| Locks | 44 |
| Maximum height above sea level | 151.3 m (496 ft) |
| Minimum height above sea level | 60.55 m (198.7 ft) |
| Navigation authority | VNF |
| History | |
| Date approved | 1820 |
| Construction began | 1823-1827 |
| Date of first use | 1831 |
| Date completed | 1835 |
| Geography | |
| Start point | Vieux-lès-Asfeld |
| End point | Pont-a-Bar (Dom-le-Mesnil) |
| Beginningcoordinates | 49°26′56″N4°05′43″E / 49.4489°N 4.0953°E /49.4489; 4.0953 |
| Endingcoordinates | 49°41′37″N4°49′48″E / 49.6936°N 4.83°E /49.6936; 4.83 |
| Branch | Canal de Vouziers |
| Connects to | Canal de la Meuse (river Meuse),Canal latéral à l'Aisne |
TheCanal des Ardennes (French pronunciation:[kanalde.z‿aʁdɛn], literallyArdennes Canal) is asummit level canal built to theFreycinet gauge between the river valleys of theAisne and theMeuse.
The Canal des Ardennes is 87.779 km long and has 44 locks (37 on theAisne side and 7 on theMeuse side) with a tunnel inSaint-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.[1]
The canal connects the village of Pont-à-Bar (in the commune ofDom-le-Mesnil) to the junction with the lateral canal downstream ofVieux-lès-Asfeld. 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 theBar Valley, with a short cut through a tunnel atSaint-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 theAisne through a series of 27 locks in just 9 km. FromSemuy 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 theVouziers Branch, 12.066 kilometres long, rises 9 m (following the course of the river Aisne) through 4 locks to the town ofVouziers.
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).
The first canal projects in the region date from 1684 under theLouvois ministry and consisted of using and extending the course of theBar which was then navigable. Various proposals were made over the decades and, in letters patent of June 1776 – almost a century later – thePrince of Conti was granted the privilege of its construction and operation. The prince died shortly after and nothing was done. After theFrench Revolution of 1789 theNational Constituent Assembly relaunched the project but found fault with previous studies and the project did not proceed.[2]
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. The subsequent Interior Minister, the scientistJean-Antoine Chaptal, agreed to undertake construction but granted only very limited funds. Work began slowly[3] It became more important during theBourbon Restoration with the launch in 1820 of a loan to finance the project.[2]
The opening of the canal took place between 1827 and 1835 with modernization between 1842 and 1846.[4] 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.[2]
The plantMatricaria 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 nativeTripleurospermum inodorum "to seem as native as he".[5][6]
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