The lock staircase Fonserannes on the Canal du Midi must have seen
is easy to see and not to describe with words.
The building was built in the 17th century and went into operation together with the planned and built by Pierre-Paul Riquet Canal du Midi.
The lock staircase originally consisted of eight contiguous lock chambers with a total length of about 300 meters with a height difference of 21.18 meters.
In 1983, to accelerate the passage and eventual removal of the lock staircase next door, an extraordinary ship lift, the water wedge lift Fonserannes, was built. This is an inclined channel in which the ship is transported in wet conveyance. A sign closing off the gutter on the valley side, together with the wedge-shaped volume of water on which the ship is floating, is pushed upwards by a tractor or driven down to the valley in braked condition. The operation of this elevator was not accompanied by success. As a result of continuing technical problems and the decline of commercial freight traffic, it was used very little, the last time in 1999. The lock staircase was always in parallel in operation and still provides their service today.
Current use of the lock staircase:
Cargo shipping has almost disappeared on the Canal du Midi. Nowadays, there are a large number of sports and houseboats, passenger ships for excursion trips and floating hotels: the lock staircase is passed annually by about 10,000 such tourist vessels, with up to 60 per day during the holiday months of July and August could be.
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