This lock is a remnant of the never completed Ourthe Canal or Maas-Moselle Canal. This project was started at the initiative of King William I under Dutch rule. Partly due to the enormous cost and after the Belgian revolution and the political instability that followed, the project came to a standstill. From Liège to Houffalize, a canal was started, lateral to the Ourthe, which was later completed. Beyond Houffalize, near Bernistap, the canal had to overcome the watershed between the Meuse and the Moselle basins through an approximately 2.5 km long tunnel. It then continued its way to Wasserbillig via the Woltz and Sûre valleys. The total length would be 261 kilometers and the enormous difference in height between the Meuse (Liège, 60 m above sea level), the watershed at Bernistap (500 meters) and the Moselle (at 130 meters) would be overcome by 218 locks. The current Ourthe Canal is limited to a few kilometers from the confluence of the Vesdre and the Ourthe in Chênée to the mouth of the Ourthe in the Meuse in Liège. From the old canal, which was completed in the mid-19th century to La Roche-en-Ardenne, several traces can still be found on the route between the confluence of the Amblève and the Ourthe in Comblain-au-Pont and Liège (including locks and lock keeper's houses). (Source: Wikipedia)