- Fonserannes Locks
The Fonserannes Locks are a major piece of infrastructure on the
Canal du Midi nearBéziers .It consists of eight ovoid lock chambers (characteristic of the Canal du Midi) and nine gates, which allow boats to be raised a height of 21.5 m, in a distance of 300 m.cite web|url=http://beziers-tourisme.fr/index.php3?id_gmenu=10618&code_menu=canal&langue=en|title = Canal du Midi]Whilst the flight was built as an 8-rise, to allow boats to cross the
River Orb on a level, rejoining the canal a little further downstream, the crossing of the Orb was long ago replaced by an aqueduct.Boats now enter and exit the lower end of the flight through the side of chamber 7, which is maintained at its upper level, and it is operated as a 6-rise.
The 8th chamber, which locks down into the Orb, is now disused.
The side exit from chamber 7 causes some confusion in describing the flight. While most sources now ignore the disused 8th chamber in describing the flight, many sources still desribe it as a 7-rise, despite the fact that chamber 7 is operated at a fixed level.
Traditional buildings such as the stables, the lockkeepers house and also several horsedrawn barges still remain. These and the locks have made the Fonserannes Locks the third most popular tourist destination in
Languedoc-Roussillon , after thePont du Gard and the town ofCarcassonne .In 1983 an inclined plane was built for boats too large for these locks to bypass them, but this has been out of use for many years.
References
External links
* [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cluses_de_Fonserannes The French article from which this article was translated]
* [http://www.canal-du-midi.org/en/canal/the_course/the_locks/fonserannes.aspx Fonserannes Locks]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
