And yet another wonder . . .

Waterways builders have to think about getting over hills.  You can build a series of locks and climb up slowly.  You can build a lift like the one we used at Strepy.  or you can build an inclined plane or 'sloping lock' where boats enter a tank of water or caisson, which then runs down the hill on rails.

The inclined plane at Ronquieres is a good example.  Built in 1968 to replace around 15 locks, it made it possible to carry those 1350 tonne barges down the hillside and north towards Brussels.  It's amazing engineering with the tanks weighing over 5000 tonnes and travelling on 236 wheels on 4 tracks held at the end of a series of cables.  It takes you 268 metres down the hillside.

We could not have been more lucky as it is not unusual to queue for 3-4 hours for a trip.  But we radio-ed in from 2km away and the chap in charge said 'premier fois Monsieur'.  As we arrived, 1350 tonner left the caisson and we were signalled in.  You have to tied with 4 lines to avoid any 'slopping about'.  The gate closed behind us and the driver strolled down the walkway and we were off at about 2km an hour down the hillside on our own private trip.  The weather was perfect and we could see for miles.  After 25 minutes we were down and the driver said we could moor below.  We spent the afternoon on a long walk along the old canal and admiring the inclined plane for outside.  Truly a marvellous experience and a perfect day for us and Cora the Idiot Dog.


The cost of this treat?  Absolutely nothing!  Tomorrow we head off towards Brussels.  The challenges of an urban canal with lots of industry but the attraction of our grandson awaits us!
Location: 7090 Ronquières, Belgium

Comments

  1. Alan and Rosie19 April 2019 at 09:09

    This is fascinating. I can't wait to tell my pal Paddy that it's not a sloping canal

    ReplyDelete

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