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Canal Chain Propulsion


Mac of Cygnet

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I am reading 'An Inland Voyage' by Robert Louis Stevenson, and came across this:

 

These barges were all tied one behind the other with tow ropes, to the number of twenty-five or thirty; and the line was headed and kept in motion by a steamer of strange construction.  It had neither paddle-wheel nor screw; but by some gear not rightly comprehensible to the unmechanical mind, it fetched up over its bow a small bright chain which lay along the bottom of the canal, and paying it out again over the stern, dragged itself forward, link by link, with its whole retinue of loaded skows.  Until one had found out the key to the enigma, there was something solemn and uncomfortable in the progress of one of these trains, as it moved gently along the water with nothing to mark its advance but an eddy alongside dying away into the wake.

 

This on the Willebroek Canal in Belgium in the 1870s.   Does anyone know if this method of propulsion was widespread?  Is it still used anywhere?

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

I am reading 'An Inland Voyage' by Robert Louis Stevenson, and came across this:

 

These barges were all tied one behind the other with tow ropes, to the number of twenty-five or thirty; and the line was headed and kept in motion by a steamer of strange construction.  It had neither paddle-wheel nor screw; but by some gear not rightly comprehensible to the unmechanical mind, it fetched up over its bow a small bright chain which lay along the bottom of the canal, and paying it out again over the stern, dragged itself forward, link by link, with its whole retinue of loaded skows.  Until one had found out the key to the enigma, there was something solemn and uncomfortable in the progress of one of these trains, as it moved gently along the water with nothing to mark its advance but an eddy alongside dying away into the wake.

 

This on the Willebroek Canal in Belgium in the 1870s.   Does anyone know if this method of propulsion was widespread?  Is it still used anywhere?

 

 

Not canals but there are chain ferries, windermere is an example 

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The last ones are about to go out of commission, or might have already - electric chain tigs are used on the Riqueval Tunnel on the Canal de St Quentin as the tunnel ventilation is lacking, however the ventilation is being improved so boats can go through under their own power

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The  St Quentin canal Riqueval  tunnel is 5.6 kms long and the tug picks up a chain from the bottom and pulls the string of boats and barges through. It picks up power from overhead wires. A pretty noisy experience. This was the common way in France for traction in tunnels.

The Mauvages tunnel on the Marne Rhin canal also has a chain tug but last time we went through the tug proceeded us but we were not tied to it and used our engine. This may have something to do with union power in France.
I saw a photo taken this week of the tug and a string exiting the Riqueval .

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Chain and cable  ferries seem to be widespread, so much so that there is a Code of Practice published 2018 for the construction of new ones.

 

I was curious to know if any canals used this as a regular method of propulsion.  Stevenson doesn't say how long this chain was, but I guess it would extend the length of the regular barge run.

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2 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

Chain and cable  ferries seem to be widespread, so much so that there is a Code of Practice published 2018 for the construction of new ones.

 

I was curious to know if any canals used this as a regular method of propulsion.  Stevenson doesn't say how long this chain was, but I guess it would extend the length of the regular barge run.

Historically there were some huge runs, I think most of the Elbe was chain tugs and IIRC correctly they had a blacksmith on board to repair the chain. 

 

Not surprisingly most of these have been made redundant either because the trade has gone or it has become motorised. I understand from IWI that Riqueval is the last, and this it will cease "this year"

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3 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Historically there were some huge runs, I think most of the Elbe was chain tugs and IIRC correctly they had a blacksmith on board to repair the chain. 

 

Not surprisingly most of these have been made redundant either because the trade has gone or it has become motorised. I understand from IWI that Riqueval is the last, and this it will cease "this year"

 

Thank you Patrick.   By 'motorised'  I presume you mean screw-driven.  The chain drive would also require a motor, as implied in my quote from RLS.   I can see that this may be more efficient than a propeller.  Is that so?

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36 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

 

Thank you Patrick.   By 'motorised'  I presume you mean screw-driven.  The chain drive would also require a motor, as implied in my quote from RLS.   I can see that this may be more efficient than a propeller.  Is that so?

Yes I do (although on the Elbe I think they were replaved by paddle wheelers but I can't quote a source for that) - more properly on canals I mean "self propelled!

 

Efficiency of propeller vs chain is above my pay-grade, other people will be able to argue til the cows come home debate that. I note a proposed ship tunnel in Norway is to be form self propelled craft because a towage system would reduce capacity, so maybe towing is slower?

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2 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Yes I do (although on the Elbe I think they were replaved by paddle wheelers but I can't quote a source for that) - more properly on canals I mean "self propelled!

 

Efficiency of propeller vs chain is above my pay-grade, other people will be able to argue til the cows come home debate that. I note a proposed ship tunnel in Norway is to be form self propelled craft because a towage system would reduce capacity, so maybe towing is slower?

Towing in the Riqueval tunnel is painfully slow for pleasure boats but probably not much slower than a loaded peniche under its own power. The tug can pull a big train of barges and there are old photos of these. Sometimes when the canal du Nord has problems there are still lots of commercials. I think Tam has been on the end of a long train (rame in French) as they kept their barge on this canal and were frequent users of the tunnel.

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1 hour ago, magpie patrick said:

The last ones are about to go out of commission, or might have already - electric chain tigs are used on the Riqueval Tunnel on the Canal de St Quentin as the tunnel ventilation is lacking, however the ventilation is being improved so boats can go through under their own power

 

The "Floating Bridge" chain ferry connecting East and West Cowes across the River Medina on the Isle of Wight is still extant, the latest incarnation having been commissioned in 2017, with a 40 year life expectancy.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowes_Floating_Bridge

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1 minute ago, cuthound said:

 

The "Floating Bridge" chain ferry connecting East and West Cowes across the River Medina on the Isle of Wight is still extant, the latest incarnation having been commissioned in 2017, with a 40 year life expectancy.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowes_Floating_Bridge

I should have caveated that I'm not including chain ferries!

 

I have a very intimate knowledge of the Torpoint ones having been part of the design team for the current ones when they were replaced about 15 years ago. 

 

Whilst ferries have the same propulsion method, they have a very different raison d'etre, and usually a different modus operandi - for a start they're not tugs. 

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Chain towage was used extensively across Europe, particularly in Germany where it was used on the Elbe, Saale, Weser, Rhine, Neckar, Main and Brahe. The definitive book is 'Kettenschiffahrt' by Zesewitz, Düntzsch and Grötschel, published in 1987, ISBN 3-341-00282-0. The system was trialed in the 1820s in France, with the Compagnie de Touage de la Basse-Seine et de l'Oise http://www.walewski.eu/upload//File/historique_du_groupe_touax2.pdf set up in 1855, see photos https://www.musee-batellerie-conflans.fr/fr/jeux-et-activites-a-faire-en-famille/les-fiches-du-musee/la-canalisation-generalisee/, and extended to the Canal de St Quentin, the Canal St Martin, on the Caen Canal, on the Pouilly Tunnel and summit level of the Burgundy Canal, and on the Loire from Decise to the Canal de Nivernais. It was also used on some of the rivers in Russia. In Germany, the system seems to have been used from the late 1860s to 1948, and I was told that quite a bit of the chain came from the Black Country. There was also a similar system using wire rope, and this was trailed on the Aire & Calder Navigation. For the French system, I think it is covered in no.34 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1awaDOLD1hSzc1uSEZGSZ5cWjerL4ua4r/view/

 

The photo shows the A&CN trial, and there is also an article on German waterways from 1881.

023b Wire rope trial.jpg

German canals 175.jpg

German canals 176.jpg

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2 hours ago, BEngo said:

The Upper Ferry across the Dart at Dartmouth is a chain ferry IIRC.  

N

Not quite the same i think. Propulsion is by side  paddle wheels, rather than by  hauling itself along the cables(not chains). The cables are only there to guide the "Floating Bridge" from one side of the river to the other and prevent it from being swept out to sea or up river to Totnes depending on the tide! No steering is necessary or provided.

Just had a look , you are right , the latest incarnation of the Floating Bridge appears to wind itself along, I was being a bit historic.Not only that , I was on the thing last year. Ignore me!?

Edited by billh
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I had forgotten about the one across the Loire at Dezice. If you are crossing from the canal lateral de Loire to the Nivernais you pass very close to a big weir so this was needed when the barges were horse drawn. They have kept the tug and made a small museum at St Ledger.

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6 hours ago, Dav and Pen said:

The  St Quentin canal Riqueval  tunnel is 5.6 kms long and the tug picks up a chain from the bottom and pulls the string of boats and barges through. It picks up power from overhead wires. A pretty noisy experience. This was the common way in France for traction in tunnels.

Almost a 'this day' shot too - it's October 1st 2015, travelling south, with us the only boat in the tow. Usually we use just a single line from the side away from the towpath to the same side of the boat ahead, but on this occasion they insisted we used their line and made a bridle from our port and starboard bitts to connect to.

 

The longest rame we were ever on was 17 ships when the alternative Canal du Nord route had a maintenance stoppage - that's 17 x 39m craft with a 30m line between each!

 

There is a second smaller tunnel at the other end of the summit level and towage was originally right across the whole way. In more recent times it has only been at Riqueval.

 

Tam  

 

 

DSCN3612 copy.jpg

DSCN3617 copy.jpg

Edited by Tam & Di
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When Riqueval was first opened the tug had a turntable rather like a children's roundabout, and a couple of tethered horses (donkeys?) provided the power to turn it, rather like a horizontal exercise wheel for a pet dormouse.

 

Tam

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5 hours ago, Tam & Di said:

When Riqueval was first opened the tug had a turntable rather like a children's roundabout, and a couple of tethered horses (donkeys?) provided the power to turn it, rather like a horizontal exercise wheel for a pet dormouse.

 

Tam

 

Yes, I was wondering where the power came from in the early days.   In my original quote Robert Louis Stevenson implies it was a steam engine that he saw in Belgium.  This in the 1870s.

 

Thanks to Pluto for a REALLY comprehensive run-down of this propulsion method for canal & river transport.

Edited by Mac of Cygnet
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