THE CANAL D'ENTREROCHES 1635 1637 The first European attempt to connect the North Sea and the Mediterranean Basin with an inland waterway: Dutch business circles are looking for a link to the South to protect them from the Spanish enemy (Spain, Spanish Netherlands, Franche-Comté) , The concession was approved in 1637 by the Berne authorities. 1638 1648 Construction of the Yverdon-Cossonay section with the help of Dutch, Swiss and French capital. The too expensive connection to Lake Geneva is never created! The canal is about five meters wide, 25 kilometers long and has nine locks or lock groups. In four ports, the goods are shipped. 1648 1828 The barges transport wine (85%), salt (11%), cereals (3%) and some other products for a clientele located between Lyon, Basel and St. Gallen. 1829 The collapse of an aqueduct bridge interrupts shipping, which has been in deficit for several years. It will not be restored. The age of rails has begun: the canal is being replaced for heavy transport by the Morges-Yverdon railway line, which opened in 1855. The passage formed in the natural incision of Entreroches forms a connection between the Rhine Basin (Orbe Plain) and the Rhone Basin (Venoge Plain). This is the highest point of the canal, and here the most important burial and construction works have been done.