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Canal du Nord

Coordinates: 50°17′N 3°07′E / 50.283°N 3.117°E / 50.283; 3.117
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50°17′N 3°07′E / 50.283°N 3.117°E / 50.283; 3.117

Canal du Nord
The Canal du Nord near Hermies
Map
Specifications
Length95 km (59 mi)
Lock length91.9 m (302 ft)
Lock width6 m (20 ft)
Locks19
StatusOpen
Tunnels:Ruyaulcourt tunnel, Panneterie tunnel[1]
History
Principal engineerGabarit Freycinet
Geography
Start pointCanal latéral à l'Oise, Pont-l'Évêque, France
End pointSensée Canal, Arleux, France

The Canal du Nord is a 95-kilometre (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.[2] 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 may 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.

History

Until the construction of the Canal du Nord, the Canal de Saint-Quentin was the only waterway linking the Seine basin to the north of France.[2] 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.[2][3] In 1860, the principal coal companies in the Pas-de-Calais region grouped themselves into a [Comité des Houillères du Pas-de-Calais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), responsible for coping with transportation problems.[3] The group expanded into the [Comité des Houillères du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in 1878, and began taking steps towards obtaining fundamental improvements in water connections.[3]

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".[3] 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.[4][5] Plans for the canal were presented to the Chamber of Deputies in 1882.[6]

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.[7] 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.[7]

In 1908 construction began on the canal.[7] 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.[7] 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.[2] 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.[7]

Battle of Canal du Nord

Main article: Battle of the Canal du Nord

The Battle of the Canal du Nord was part of a general Allied 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.[8]

En Route

Canal du Nord
Legend
 Sensée Canal
Arleux
Rue du Bias, Arleux
Malderez Canal
Lock No. 1 (Palluel)
Rue d'en Haut, Palluel
Rue des Stations, Sauchy-Cauchy
A26 autoroute
Port of Marquion
Route National (D939)
Lock No. 2 (Marquion)
Rue du Sains, Sains-lès-Marquion
Lock No. 3 (Sains-lès-Marquion)
Rue du Sains-lès-Marquion
Lock No. 4 (Inchy-en-Artois)
Rue d'en Haut, Mœuvres
Lock No. 5 (Mœuvres)
Route de Cuquiche, Mœuvres
Route de Bapaume (D930)
Lock No. 6
Lock No. 7
Rue d'Hermies
Ruyaulcourt Tunnel
Ruyaulcourt
A2 autoroute
Chaussee Brunehaut (D58)
Rue d'Equancourt (C6)
Rue de Douai (C7)
Rue de la Taille, Manancourt
Side Wharf
Rue Canal, Moislains
Rue Garre, Moislains
Moislains Public Quay
Lock No. 8 (Moislains)
Lock No. 9
Lock No. 10 (Allaines)
Route d'Allaines, Allaines
Rue d'Arras (D1017), Feuillaucourt
Lock No. 11 (Feuillaucourt)
Route d'Albert (D938)
Lock No. 12 (Halles)
River Somme
Junction with the Somme Canal
Port de Plaisance, Péronne
Faubourg de Paris (D1017), Péronne
Lock No. 13 (La Chalelette)
Chaussee Brunehaut (D1029), Brie
Saint-Christ-Briost Wharf
Saint-Christ-Briost Bridge
A29 autoroute
Lock No. 14 (Épénancourt)
Pargny Bridge
Béthencourt-sur-Somme Bridge
Junction with the Somme Canal
Route de Rouy, Rouy-le-Petit
Railway Bridge
Route de Nesle (D930)
Lock No. 15 (Languevoisin-Quiquery)
Grand Rue, Languevoisin-Quiquery
Languevoisin-Quiquery Public Port
Rue du Coquis, Breuil
Buverchy Bridge
Lannoy Wharf
Lannoy Bridge
Libermont Bridge
Panneterie Tunnel
Rue de la Gare, Frétoy-le-Château
Lock No. 16 (Campagne)
Campagne Bridge
Rue de Catingy, Catigny
Rue de Genets, Béhencourt
Rue de l'Eglise, Haudival
Lock No. 17 (Haudival)
Rue de Beaurains, Beaurains-lès-Noyon
D934
Coopérative Agora wharf
Route de Montdidier (D938), Noyon
Lock No. 18 (Noyon)
Noyon Bridge
D1032
Lock No. 19 (Pont-l'Évêque)
Rue du Mont Renaud
Creil–Jeumont railway bridge
Pont-l'Évêque public wharf
Oise Lateral Canal

See also

Notes

  1. ^ McKnight 2005.
  2. ^ a b c d McKnight 2005, p. 30.
  3. ^ a b c d Gillet 1984, p. 112.
  4. ^ Gillet 1984, p. 209.
  5. ^ Gillet 1984, p. 161.
  6. ^ Revue, p. 325.
  7. ^ a b c d e Gillet 1984, p. 113.
  8. ^ Tucker 1996, pp. 421–422.

References

  • "Bulletin de 1883". Revue de géographie commerciale (in French). 6 (2). Bordeaux: Société de géographie commerciale de Bordeaux. 1883.
  • Gillet, Marcel, ed. (1984), Histoire sociale du Nord et de l'Europe du Nord-Ouest (in French), Lille: Université de Lille, ISBN 2-86531-020-5
  • McKnight, Hugh (2005), Cruising French Waterways (4 ed.), Dobbs Ferry: Sheridon House, ISBN 1-57409-210-3
  • Tucker, Spencer, ed. (1996), The European powers in the First World War: an encyclopaedia, New York: Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8153-0399-8
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