Canal du Nord
Encyclopedia
The Canal du Nord is a 95 kilometres (59 mi) long canal in northern France
. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise
at Pont-l'Évêque
to the Sensée Canal
at Arleux
. The French
government, in partnership with coal-mining companies in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments, developed the canal to help French coal mining
companies withstand foreign competition. Construction of the canal began in 1908 but halted in 1914, because of the First World War
. The war caused widespread destruction of the canal and the French government made no attempt to resume construction until 1959. Construction recommenced in 1960 and the waterway opened to the public in 1965. The Canal du Nord and the Canal de Saint-Quentin
will soon be supplanted by the Seine-Nord Europe Canal
, a projected high capacity link between the Oise River
at Janville
and the high capacity Dunkirk-Escaut Canal
.
basin to the north of France
. The rise of the coal industry in Pas-de-Calais eventually saturated traffic on the Canal de Saint-Quentin and necessitated a new transportation link to the Île-de-France
region to ensure that the northern French coal mining companies could effectively compete against their Belgian
and English
equivalents. In 1860, the principal coal companies in the Pas-de-Calais region grouped themselves into a , responsible for coping with transportation problems. The group expanded into the in 1878, and began taking steps towards obtaining fundamental improvements in water connections.
A special commission of the French Ministry of Public Works conducted their first study in 1878 to find a “suitable means of putting the coal mines in a position to withstand foreign competition". The concept of the canal was included in the Freycinet Plan, a public works project whereby the government purchased railroads and built extensive new railways and waterways. Plans for the canal were presented to the Chamber of Deputies
in 1882.
On 23 December 1903, the French government authorized construction of the Canal du Nord, a 93 kilometre long canal from Arleux
to Pont-l'Évêque
. The Canal du Nord would admit barges up to 300 tonnes and because it both increased waterway capacity and decreased transportation distance, it was expected to decrease freight costs by up to thirty percent.
In 1908 construction began on the canal. Under the plan, coal-mining companies contributed one-third of the construction cost and by 1914 this amounted to 23 million francs of the total 72 million francs in incurred expenses. Three quarters of the excavations, eleven locks and all of the bridges were complete, with work well advanced on the tunnels, when World War I forced a halt in construction. The war resulted in widespread destruction of the canal and the French government did not attempt to resume building prior to the Second World War.
offensive against German
positions on the Western Front during the Hundred Days Offensive
of World War I. The battle took place along an incomplete portion of the Canal du Nord and on the outskirts of Cambrai
between 27 September and 1 October 1918. To avoid the risk of having extensive German reserves massed against a single Allied attack, the assault along the Canal du Nord was undertaken as part of a number of closely sequenced Allied attacks at separate points along the front. It began one day after the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
, one day before an offensive in the Flanders
region of Belgium
, and two days before the Battle of St. Quentin Canal.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise
Canal latéral à l'Oise
The Canal latéral à l'Oise is a canal in northern France that, along with the River Oise, connects the Canal de Saint-Quentin at Chauny to the Seine at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine....
at Pont-l'Évêque
Pont-l'Évêque, Oise
Pont-l'Évêque is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-References:*...
to the Sensée Canal
Sensée Canal
The Canal de la Sensée is a project that was developed under Napoleon. In March 1806, the imperial government gave orders to build a canal which would link the Scarpe River and the Escaut River . The work was commenced under the direction of Augustin Honnorez in June 1819 and the Sensée canal was...
at Arleux
Arleux
Arleux is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-Heraldry:-References:*...
. The French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
government, in partnership with coal-mining companies in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments, developed the canal to help French coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
companies withstand foreign competition. Construction of the canal began in 1908 but halted in 1914, because of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The war caused widespread destruction of the canal and the French government made no attempt to resume construction until 1959. Construction recommenced in 1960 and the waterway opened to the public in 1965. The Canal du Nord and the Canal de Saint-Quentin
Canal de Saint-Quentin
The Canal de Saint-Quentin is a canal in northern France connecting the canalised Escaut River in Cambrai to the Canal latéral à l'Oise and Canal de l'Oise à l'Aisne in Chauny-History:...
will soon be supplanted by the Seine-Nord Europe Canal
Seine-Nord Europe Canal
The Seine-Nord Europe Canal is a high capacity canal in development, with preliminary works set to begin in 2010, with major construction from 2012 and due to open in 2016. It is projected to begin from the Oise River at Janville, Oise, north of Compiègne, to the Canal Dunkerque-Escaut, east of...
, a projected high capacity link between the Oise River
Oise River
The River Oise is a right tributary of the River Seine, flowing for 302 km in Belgium and France. Its source is in the Belgian province Hainaut, south of the town Chimay. It crosses the border with France after about 20 km. It flows into the Seine in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris...
at Janville
Janville, Oise
Janville is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise....
and the high capacity Dunkirk-Escaut Canal
Canal Dunkerque-Escaut
The Canal Dunkerque-Escaut is a 189 km series of large canals from Dunkerque to Mortagne-du-Nord. The route is also known as the liaison,...
.
History
Until the construction of the Canal du Nord, the Canal de Saint-Quentin was the only waterway linking the SeineSeine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
basin to the north of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The rise of the coal industry in Pas-de-Calais eventually saturated traffic on the Canal de Saint-Quentin and necessitated a new transportation link to the Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
region to ensure that the northern French coal mining companies could effectively compete against their Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and English
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
equivalents. In 1860, the principal coal companies in the Pas-de-Calais region grouped themselves into a , responsible for coping with transportation problems. The group expanded into the in 1878, and began taking steps towards obtaining fundamental improvements in water connections.
A special commission of the French Ministry of Public Works conducted their first study in 1878 to find a “suitable means of putting the coal mines in a position to withstand foreign competition". The concept of the canal was included in the Freycinet Plan, a public works project whereby the government purchased railroads and built extensive new railways and waterways. Plans for the canal were presented to the Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of France
Chamber of Deputies was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.*...
in 1882.
On 23 December 1903, the French government authorized construction of the Canal du Nord, a 93 kilometre long canal from Arleux
Arleux
Arleux is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-Heraldry:-References:*...
to Pont-l'Évêque
Pont-l'Évêque, Oise
Pont-l'Évêque is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-References:*...
. The Canal du Nord would admit barges up to 300 tonnes and because it both increased waterway capacity and decreased transportation distance, it was expected to decrease freight costs by up to thirty percent.
In 1908 construction began on the canal. Under the plan, coal-mining companies contributed one-third of the construction cost and by 1914 this amounted to 23 million francs of the total 72 million francs in incurred expenses. Three quarters of the excavations, eleven locks and all of the bridges were complete, with work well advanced on the tunnels, when World War I forced a halt in construction. The war resulted in widespread destruction of the canal and the French government did not attempt to resume building prior to the Second World War.
Battle of Canal du Nord
The Battle of Canal du Nord was part of a general AlliedAllies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
offensive against German
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
positions on the Western Front during the Hundred Days Offensive
Hundred Days Offensive
The Hundred Days Offensive was the final period of the First World War, during which the Allies launched a series of offensives against the Central Powers on the Western Front from 8 August to 11 November 1918, beginning with the Battle of Amiens. The offensive forced the German armies to retreat...
of World War I. The battle took place along an incomplete portion of the Canal du Nord and on the outskirts of Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
between 27 September and 1 October 1918. To avoid the risk of having extensive German reserves massed against a single Allied attack, the assault along the Canal du Nord was undertaken as part of a number of closely sequenced Allied attacks at separate points along the front. It began one day after the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Meuse-Argonne Offensive
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, or Maas-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was a part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire western front.-Overview:...
, one day before an offensive in the Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
region of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and two days before the Battle of St. Quentin Canal.
En Route
- PK 0 ArleuxArleuxArleux is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-Heraldry:-References:*...
- PK 14 Moeuvres
- PK 48 PéronnePéronne, SommePéronne is a commune of the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.It is close to where the Battles of the Somme took place during World War I...
, connection with Grande Somme - PK 60 ÉpénancourtÉpénancourtÉpénancourt is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Épénancourt is situated on the banks of the River Somme and on the D62 road, just off the A29 motorway, some west of Saint Quentin.-Population:-External links:...
- PK 66 VoyennesVoyennesVoyennes is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Voyennes is situated 30 miles west of Amiens, on the D417 road in the valley of the Somme River.-Population:-External links:*...
, connection with Petite Somme - PK 92 NoyonNoyonNoyon is a commune in the Oise department in northern France.It lies on the Oise Canal, 100 km north of Paris.-History:...
- PK 95 Pont-l'ÉvêquePont-l'Évêque, OisePont-l'Évêque is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-References:*...