Canal du Midi
Encyclopedia
The is a 240 km (149.1 mi) long canal in Southern France
. The canal connects the Garonne
River to the on the Mediterranean
and along with the Canal de Garonne
forms the Canal des Deux Mers
joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse
down to the Étang de Thau. The was built by Pierre-Paul Riquet
.
It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
in 1996.
brought Leonardo da Vinci
to France in 1516 and commissioned a survey of a route from the Garonne at Toulouse to the Aude
at Carcassonne
. The major problem was how to supply the summit sections with enough water.
In 1662, Pierre-Paul Riquet
, a rich tax-farmer in the Languedoc
region, who knew the region intimately, believed he could solve the problem, but he first had to persuade Jean-Baptiste Colbert
, the finance minister of Louis XIV, which he did through his friendship with the Archbishop of Toulouse. A Royal Commission was appointed and in 1665 recommended the project which was finally ordered by Louis XIV in 1666 with the possible expenditure of 3,360,000 livre
s. The specifications for the work were drawn up by the head of this commission and France's leading military engineer in that period, the Chevalier de Clerville, who remained a loyal ally of Riquet and partisan of the Canal du Midi until his death. To help in the design, Riquet is said to have constructed a miniature canal in the grounds of his house, Bonrepos, complete with locks, weirs, feeder channels and even a tunnel.
At the age of 63, Riquet started his great enterprise, sending his personal engineer, François Andreossy
, and a local water expert, Pierre Roux, to the Montagne Noire to work on the water supply. Some of Clerville's men with experience in military engineering came, too, to build a huge dam, the Bassin de St. Ferréol, on the Laudot river. The Laudot is a tributary of the River Tarn in the Montagne Noire
some 20 km (12.4 mi) from the summit of the proposed canal at Seuil de Naurouze
. This massive dam, 700 metres (2,296.6 ft) long, 30 metres (98.4 ft) above the riverbed and 120 metres (393.7 ft) thick at its base was the largest work of civil engineering in Europe and only the second major dam to be built in Europe, after one in Alicante
in Spain. It was connected to the Canal du Midi by a contoured channel over 25 km long, 3.7 m (12.1 ft) wide with a base width of 1.5 m (4.9 ft). It was eventually equipped with 14 locks in order to bring building materials for the canal down from the mountains and to create a new port for the mountain town of Revel. This supply system successfully fed the canal with water where it crossed the continental divide, replacing water that drained toward the two seas. The system was a masterpiece of both hydraulic and structural engineering, and served as an early ratification of Riquet's vision. It was also a major part of a massive enterprise. At its peak 12,000 labourers worked on the project, including over a thousand women, many of whom came specifically to work on the water system.
The women labourers were surprisingly important to the canal's engineering. Many came from former Roman bath colonies in the Pyrenees, where elements of classical hydraulics had been maintained as a living tradition. They were hired at first to haul dirt to the dam at St. Ferréol, but their supervisors, who were struggling to design the channels from the dam to the canal, recognized their expertise. Engineering in this period was mainly focused on fortress construction, and hydraulics was concerned mostly with mining and problems of drainage. Building a navigational canal across the continent was well beyond the formal knowledge of the military engineers expected to supervise it, but the peasant women who were carriers of classical hydraulic methods added to the repertoire of available techniques. They not only perfected the water supply system for the canal but also threaded the waterway through the mountains near Béziers, using few locks, and built the eight-lock staircase at Fonserannes.
The canal was built on a grand scale, with oval shaped locks 30.5 m (100.1 ft) long, 6 m (19.7 ft) wide at the gates and 11 m (36.1 ft) wide in the middle. This design was intended to resist the collapse of the walls that happened early in the project. The oval locks used the strength of the arch against the inward pressure of the surrounding soil that had destabilized the early locks with straight walls. Such arches had been used by the Romans for retaining walls in Gaul, so this technique was not new, but its application to locks was revolutionary and was imitated in early American canals.
Many of the structures were designed with neoclassical elements to further and to echo the king's ambitions to make France a New Rome. The Canal du Midi as a grand piece of infrastructural engineering in itself was promoted as worthy of Rome and the political dreams behind it were clarified with plaques in Latin, and walls built with Roman features.
The Canal du Midi was opened officially as the Canal Royal de Languedoc on May 15, 1681. It was also referred to as the Canal des Deux Mers (Canal of Two Seas). It eventually cost over 15 million livres, of which nearly two million came from Riquet himself, leaving him with huge debts, and he died in 1680, just months before the Canal was opened. His sons inherited the canal, but the family's investments were not recovered and debts not fully paid until over 100 years later. The canal was well managed and run as a paternalistic enterprise until the revolution
.
which serve to ascend and descend a total of 190 metres (623.4 ft). It has 328 structures, including bridges, dams and a tunnel.
There are now over 40 aqueducts, but when created by Riquet, there were only three, the Répudre Aqueduct
, Aiguille Aqueduct
and Jouarres Aqueduct
. To cross the other streams, the streams were dammed below the canal and the boats crossed on the rivers themselves. From 1683 to 1693, Vauban
improved the canal adding drainage ditches and over 40 aqueducts. Among the most important were the Orbiel Aqueduct
and Cesse Aqueduct
s. The Orb Aqueduct
was finished in 1858 and finally, the Herbettes Aqueduct
in 1983.
At the town of Béziers
there was a staircase of eight locks at Fonsérannes
to bring it to the river Orb
. The locks had to be cut from solid rock, and descended a hillside whose gradient varied. All the locks had to contain the same volume of water, but could not have precisely the same shape. Nonetheless, they were built successfully without need of repair. Surprisingly, this amazing piece of engineering was subcontracted out to two illiterate brothers, the Medhailes, and was built by a workforce composed mainly of women.
Because of flooding problems, the Canal du Midi was equipped with aqueduct bridges. The first was over the Le Répudre River, but Vauban also designed subsequent ones. Finally, an aqueduct bridge was built over the Orb Aqueduct
, bypassing the bottom two locks at Fonserannes. In 1982/3, a new Fonserannes water slope
was built for barges alongside the lock staircase, too, though it is now out of service.
The design of the Canal included the first canal passage ever built through a tunnel (the Malpas Tunnel
). The Canal du Midi passes through a 173 metres (567.6 ft) tunnel through a hill at Enserune.
The Canal also involved building the first artificial reservoir for feeding a canal waterway, the Bassin de St. Ferréol. The second source, built in 1777-1781, was Bassin de Lampy
.
The construction of the Canal du Midi was considered by people in the 17th century as the biggest project of the day. Even today, it is seen as a marvelous engineering accomplishment and is the most popular pleasure waterway in Europe.
Initially the canal appears to have been mainly used by small sailing barges with easily lowered masts, bow-hauled by gangs of men. By the middle of the 18th century, horse towing had largely taken over and steam tugs came in 1834 to cross the Étang. By 1838 273 vessels were regularly working the canal and passenger and packet boats for mail continued a brisk trade until the coming of the railways in 1857. Commercial traffic continued until 1980 when it began to decline rapidly, ultimately ceasing altogether during the drought closure of 1989.
Now the Canal has become a tourist attraction and place for leisure activities, with many people rowing
, canoeing
, fishing
or even cruising on luxury hotel barge
s such as the Anjodi
. The canal's beauty is enhanced by rows of stately Plane trees
that line each side. The 42,000 trees, which date from the 1830s, were planted to stabilize the banks. In 2006 a wilt infection was discovered that is killing the trees. About 2,500 had been destroyed by mid-2011, at which time it was projected that all would need to be destroyed and replaced in 20 years.
Southern France
Southern France , colloquially known as le Midi is defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Gironde, Spain, the Mediterranean, and Italy...
. The canal connects the Garonne
Garonne
The Garonne is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of .-Source:The Garonne's headwaters are to be found in the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees, though three different locations have been proposed as the true source: the Uelh deth Garona at Plan de Beret , the Ratera-Saboredo...
River to the on the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and along with the Canal de Garonne
Canal de Garonne
The Canal de Garonne, formerly known as Canal latéral à la Garonne, is a French canal dating from the 19th century which connects Toulouse to Castets-en-Dorthe. The remainder of the route to Bordeaux uses the Garonne River. It is the continuation of the Canal du Midi which connects the...
forms the Canal des Deux Mers
Canal des Deux Mers
The Canal des Deux Mers has been used to describe two different but similar things since the 1660s. In some cases, it is used interchangeably with the Canal du Midi. In others, it describes the path from Atlantic to the Mediterranean, of which the Canal du Midi was the first man-made component...
joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
down to the Étang de Thau. The was built by Pierre-Paul Riquet
Pierre-Paul Riquet
Pierre-Paul Riquet was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi.-Background:...
.
It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
in 1996.
History
The Canal du Midi was built to serve as a shortcut between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, avoiding the long sea voyage around hostile Spain, Barbary pirates, and a trip that in the 17th century took a full month to complete. Its strategic value was obvious and it had been discussed for centuries, in particular when King Francis IFrancis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
brought Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
to France in 1516 and commissioned a survey of a route from the Garonne at Toulouse to the Aude
Aude
Aude is a department in south-central France named after the river Aude. The local council also calls the department "Cathar Country".Aude is also a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and mother...
at Carcassonne
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is divided into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. Carcassone was founded by the Visigoths in the fifth century,...
. The major problem was how to supply the summit sections with enough water.
In 1662, Pierre-Paul Riquet
Pierre-Paul Riquet
Pierre-Paul Riquet was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi.-Background:...
, a rich tax-farmer in the Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
region, who knew the region intimately, believed he could solve the problem, but he first had to persuade Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
, the finance minister of Louis XIV, which he did through his friendship with the Archbishop of Toulouse. A Royal Commission was appointed and in 1665 recommended the project which was finally ordered by Louis XIV in 1666 with the possible expenditure of 3,360,000 livre
French livre
The livre was the currency of France until 1795. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.-Etymology:...
s. The specifications for the work were drawn up by the head of this commission and France's leading military engineer in that period, the Chevalier de Clerville, who remained a loyal ally of Riquet and partisan of the Canal du Midi until his death. To help in the design, Riquet is said to have constructed a miniature canal in the grounds of his house, Bonrepos, complete with locks, weirs, feeder channels and even a tunnel.
At the age of 63, Riquet started his great enterprise, sending his personal engineer, François Andreossy
François Andreossy
François Andréossy was a French engineer, cartographer, and a citizen of Narbonne. He was born in Paris on 10 June 1633. After completing his engineering studies in Paris, Andréossy went to Italy in 1660 to study Italian canal technology in Lombardy and Padua. He returned from the trip and...
, and a local water expert, Pierre Roux, to the Montagne Noire to work on the water supply. Some of Clerville's men with experience in military engineering came, too, to build a huge dam, the Bassin de St. Ferréol, on the Laudot river. The Laudot is a tributary of the River Tarn in the Montagne Noire
Montagne Noire
* Not to be confused with the Montagnes Noires in Brittany.The Montagne Noire is a mountain range in central southern France. It is located at the southwestern end of the Massif Central in the border area of the Tarn, Hérault and Aude departments...
some 20 km (12.4 mi) from the summit of the proposed canal at Seuil de Naurouze
Seuil de Naurouze
The Seuil de Naurouze, aka Col de Naurouze, is a mountain pass in southern France. It is the watershed point identified by Pierre-Paul Riquet when he designed and built the Canal du Midi. Water falling on the western side of this point flows to the Atlantic Ocean and on the eastern side to the...
. This massive dam, 700 metres (2,296.6 ft) long, 30 metres (98.4 ft) above the riverbed and 120 metres (393.7 ft) thick at its base was the largest work of civil engineering in Europe and only the second major dam to be built in Europe, after one in Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
in Spain. It was connected to the Canal du Midi by a contoured channel over 25 km long, 3.7 m (12.1 ft) wide with a base width of 1.5 m (4.9 ft). It was eventually equipped with 14 locks in order to bring building materials for the canal down from the mountains and to create a new port for the mountain town of Revel. This supply system successfully fed the canal with water where it crossed the continental divide, replacing water that drained toward the two seas. The system was a masterpiece of both hydraulic and structural engineering, and served as an early ratification of Riquet's vision. It was also a major part of a massive enterprise. At its peak 12,000 labourers worked on the project, including over a thousand women, many of whom came specifically to work on the water system.
The women labourers were surprisingly important to the canal's engineering. Many came from former Roman bath colonies in the Pyrenees, where elements of classical hydraulics had been maintained as a living tradition. They were hired at first to haul dirt to the dam at St. Ferréol, but their supervisors, who were struggling to design the channels from the dam to the canal, recognized their expertise. Engineering in this period was mainly focused on fortress construction, and hydraulics was concerned mostly with mining and problems of drainage. Building a navigational canal across the continent was well beyond the formal knowledge of the military engineers expected to supervise it, but the peasant women who were carriers of classical hydraulic methods added to the repertoire of available techniques. They not only perfected the water supply system for the canal but also threaded the waterway through the mountains near Béziers, using few locks, and built the eight-lock staircase at Fonserannes.
The canal was built on a grand scale, with oval shaped locks 30.5 m (100.1 ft) long, 6 m (19.7 ft) wide at the gates and 11 m (36.1 ft) wide in the middle. This design was intended to resist the collapse of the walls that happened early in the project. The oval locks used the strength of the arch against the inward pressure of the surrounding soil that had destabilized the early locks with straight walls. Such arches had been used by the Romans for retaining walls in Gaul, so this technique was not new, but its application to locks was revolutionary and was imitated in early American canals.
Many of the structures were designed with neoclassical elements to further and to echo the king's ambitions to make France a New Rome. The Canal du Midi as a grand piece of infrastructural engineering in itself was promoted as worthy of Rome and the political dreams behind it were clarified with plaques in Latin, and walls built with Roman features.
The Canal du Midi was opened officially as the Canal Royal de Languedoc on May 15, 1681. It was also referred to as the Canal des Deux Mers (Canal of Two Seas). It eventually cost over 15 million livres, of which nearly two million came from Riquet himself, leaving him with huge debts, and he died in 1680, just months before the Canal was opened. His sons inherited the canal, but the family's investments were not recovered and debts not fully paid until over 100 years later. The canal was well managed and run as a paternalistic enterprise until the revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Characteristics of the Canal
The Canal has 91 locksLocks on the Canal du Midi
There are 91 working locks on the Canal du Midi along its course from the Bassin du Thau on the Mediterranean coast to the junction with the Canal lateral a la Garonne in Toulouse. There are a further 13 locks on the La Nouvelle branch which runs through Narbonne to the Mediterranean at...
which serve to ascend and descend a total of 190 metres (623.4 ft). It has 328 structures, including bridges, dams and a tunnel.
There are now over 40 aqueducts, but when created by Riquet, there were only three, the Répudre Aqueduct
Répudre Aqueduct
The Répudre Aqueduct is the first aqueduct built on the Canal du Midi. Pierre-Paul Riquet designed it to cross the Répudre River. It was built by Emmanuel d'Estan. It was designed in 1675 and completed in 1676, but was severely damaged that winter and had to be rebuilt...
, Aiguille Aqueduct
Aiguille Aqueduct
The Aiguille Aqueduct is one of several aqueducts on the Canal du Midi. In Puichéric France, it carries the canal over a small stream, the Rigole de l'Etang. It is one of three original aqueducts created by Pierre-Paul Riquet during the building of the canal from 1667 to 1681....
and Jouarres Aqueduct
Jouarres Aqueduct
The Jouarres Aqueduct is one of several aqueducts on the Canal du Midi. In Jouarres le Vieux France, it carries the canal over a small stream. It is one of three original aqueducts created by Pierre-Paul Riquet during the building of the canal from 1667 to 1681....
. To cross the other streams, the streams were dammed below the canal and the boats crossed on the rivers themselves. From 1683 to 1693, Vauban
Vauban
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
improved the canal adding drainage ditches and over 40 aqueducts. Among the most important were the Orbiel Aqueduct
Orbiel Aqueduct
The Orbiel Aqueduct is one of several aqueducts on the Canal du Midi. Until its building, the canal crossed the River Orbiel on the level. A dam on the Orbiel was demolished and replaced with the Aqueduct. It was built in 1686-87 by Antoine Niquet and designed by Marshal Sebastien Vauban, It...
and Cesse Aqueduct
Cesse Aqueduct
Cesse Aqueduct is one of several aqueducts, or water bridge, created for the Canal du Midi. Originally, the canal crossed the Cesse on the level...
s. The Orb Aqueduct
Orb Aqueduct
The Orb Aqueduct is a bridge which carries the Canal du Midi over the Orb River in the city of Béziers in Languedoc, France. The aqueduct is wide, tall and at is the longest on the Canal du Midi....
was finished in 1858 and finally, the Herbettes Aqueduct
Herbettes Aqueduct
The Herbettes Aqueduct is one of several aqueducts on the Canal du Midi. In Toulouse France, it carries the canal over a four lane highway in a metal trough. The trough has been colorfully painted underneath. The aqueduct is about from the Port Saint-Sauveur.The structure is made of steel, is ...
in 1983.
At the town of Béziers
Béziers
Béziers is a town in Languedoc in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event...
there was a staircase of eight locks at Fonsérannes
Fonserannes Locks
Fonserannes Lock is a staircase lock on the Canal du Midi near Béziers.It consists of eight ovoid lock chambers and nine gates, which allow boats to be raised a height of 21.5 m, in a distance of 300 m....
to bring it to the river Orb
Orb River
The Orb is a 145 km long river in the Herault département of Southern France that flows into the Mediterranean Sea, in Valras-Plage. The river flows through the towns Bédarieux and Béziers, where it is crossed by the canal du Midi on the Orb Aqueduct. In ancient times, the Orb was crossed at...
. The locks had to be cut from solid rock, and descended a hillside whose gradient varied. All the locks had to contain the same volume of water, but could not have precisely the same shape. Nonetheless, they were built successfully without need of repair. Surprisingly, this amazing piece of engineering was subcontracted out to two illiterate brothers, the Medhailes, and was built by a workforce composed mainly of women.
Because of flooding problems, the Canal du Midi was equipped with aqueduct bridges. The first was over the Le Répudre River, but Vauban also designed subsequent ones. Finally, an aqueduct bridge was built over the Orb Aqueduct
Orb Aqueduct
The Orb Aqueduct is a bridge which carries the Canal du Midi over the Orb River in the city of Béziers in Languedoc, France. The aqueduct is wide, tall and at is the longest on the Canal du Midi....
, bypassing the bottom two locks at Fonserannes. In 1982/3, a new Fonserannes water slope
Fonserannes water slope
The Fonserannes Water Slope, is a disused inclined plane on the Canal du Midi parallel to the Fonserannes Lock. It has a rise of and a slope of five degrees.This technique for a water slope was described by the French engineer Jean Aubert in 1961....
was built for barges alongside the lock staircase, too, though it is now out of service.
The design of the Canal included the first canal passage ever built through a tunnel (the Malpas Tunnel
Malpas Tunnel
The Malpas tunnel was excavated in 1679 under the hill d'Ensérune in Hérault, allowing the passage of the Canal du Midi. It was Europe's first navigable canal tunnel and a monument to the determination of Pierre-Paul Riquet, the chief engineer. It is located in the commune of Nissan-lez-Ensérune...
). The Canal du Midi passes through a 173 metres (567.6 ft) tunnel through a hill at Enserune.
The Canal also involved building the first artificial reservoir for feeding a canal waterway, the Bassin de St. Ferréol. The second source, built in 1777-1781, was Bassin de Lampy
Bassin de Lampy
The Bassin de Lampy was created during 1777 and 1781 when a dam was placed on the Lampy Valley in the Aude department in south-central France. The reservoir provides a source of water for the Canal du Midi...
.
The construction of the Canal du Midi was considered by people in the 17th century as the biggest project of the day. Even today, it is seen as a marvelous engineering accomplishment and is the most popular pleasure waterway in Europe.
Initially the canal appears to have been mainly used by small sailing barges with easily lowered masts, bow-hauled by gangs of men. By the middle of the 18th century, horse towing had largely taken over and steam tugs came in 1834 to cross the Étang. By 1838 273 vessels were regularly working the canal and passenger and packet boats for mail continued a brisk trade until the coming of the railways in 1857. Commercial traffic continued until 1980 when it began to decline rapidly, ultimately ceasing altogether during the drought closure of 1989.
Now the Canal has become a tourist attraction and place for leisure activities, with many people rowing
Watercraft rowing
Watercraft rowing is the act of propelling a boat using the motion of oars in the water. The difference between paddling and rowing is that with rowing the oars have a mechanical connection with the boat whereas with paddling the paddles are hand-held with no mechanical connection.This article...
, canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
, fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
or even cruising on luxury hotel barge
Hotel barge
The Hotel Barge came into being following the decline in commercial and freight carriage on the canals of Europe. Many working barges have been converted into floating hotels of varying degrees of luxury...
s such as the Anjodi
Anjodi
Anjodi is a Luxe motor Dutch steel barge built as a trading barge but refitted in 1982 as a hotel barge. She is currently berthed on the Canal du Midi in south-west France....
. The canal's beauty is enhanced by rows of stately Plane trees
Platanus
Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....
that line each side. The 42,000 trees, which date from the 1830s, were planted to stabilize the banks. In 2006 a wilt infection was discovered that is killing the trees. About 2,500 had been destroyed by mid-2011, at which time it was projected that all would need to be destroyed and replaced in 20 years.
See also
- Aqueducts on the Canal du MidiAqueducts on the Canal du MidiAqueducts on the Canal du Midi allow the canal to intersect and cross over natural streams. There are two exceptions, the first is the Herbettes Aqueduct where it crosses a four lane highway in Toulouse...
- Canal de GaronneCanal de GaronneThe Canal de Garonne, formerly known as Canal latéral à la Garonne, is a French canal dating from the 19th century which connects Toulouse to Castets-en-Dorthe. The remainder of the route to Bordeaux uses the Garonne River. It is the continuation of the Canal du Midi which connects the...
- Épanchoir de FoucaudÉpanchoir de Foucaud (siphon)The Épanchoir de Foucaud is a siphon for water release from the Canal du Midi west of Carcassonne. The waters are used for the Épanchoir de Foucaud botanical garden.-See also:*Aqueducts on the Canal du Midi*Canal du Midi*Locks on the Canal du Midi...
- Fonsérannes LocksFonserannes LocksFonserannes Lock is a staircase lock on the Canal du Midi near Béziers.It consists of eight ovoid lock chambers and nine gates, which allow boats to be raised a height of 21.5 m, in a distance of 300 m....
- Fonserannes water slopeFonserannes water slopeThe Fonserannes Water Slope, is a disused inclined plane on the Canal du Midi parallel to the Fonserannes Lock. It has a rise of and a slope of five degrees.This technique for a water slope was described by the French engineer Jean Aubert in 1961....
- La Nouvelle branchLa Nouvelle branchThe La Nouvelle branch It is also sometimes referred to as or . is a lateral branch of the Canal du Midi in Aude, south-central France which runs from the Canal du Midi through Narbonne and on to the Mediterranean...
- Le SomailLe SomailLe Somail is a hamlet in the Aude department of southwestern France.Le Somail is located along the Canal du Midi. Its territory is shared by 3 communes: Ginestas, Saint-Nazaire-d'Aude and Sallèles-d'Aude....
- Locks on the Canal du MidiLocks on the Canal du MidiThere are 91 working locks on the Canal du Midi along its course from the Bassin du Thau on the Mediterranean coast to the junction with the Canal lateral a la Garonne in Toulouse. There are a further 13 locks on the La Nouvelle branch which runs through Narbonne to the Mediterranean at...
- Pont MarengoPont MarengoThe Pont Marengo crosses the Canal du Midi and links Carcassonne to the local railway station.The lock is very busy and a favourite tourist attraction as the canal boats work their way along the canal. The plaque on the bridge dates the work to 1800 or as it also says year 8, measuring time in the...
, in CarcassonneCarcassonneCarcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is divided into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. Carcassone was founded by the Visigoths in the fifth century,... - Water features on the Canal du MidiWater features on the Canal du MidiThe balancing of incoming and outgoing water allows the Canal du Midi to operate as it does. Each time a lock operates, large quantities of water are either required to fill it or dump from it into the lower level pound. There must be a constant source of water in order to fill and the excess...
External links
- Canal du Midi guide Places, ports and moorings on the Canal du Midi
- Canal du Midi
- Canal du Midi
- Maps and Information about the Midi Canal
- Photographs of the Canal du Midi
- Canal du Midi
- Carcassonne
- Intermunicipal tourist office of the Canal du Midi
- Photos of the Canal du Midi