Canal de Bourgogne closure

[Pluto]

It looks like they are trying to close part of the Canal de Bourgogne in France. http://projetbabel.org/fluvial/niouz-78_Alerte_Bourgogne.html There is a link to a petition at the bottom of the above page.

[Bee]

Signed

[magpie patrick]

Signed

[Athy]

Signée.

[Boaty Jo]

Signed.

Even a partial closure would be a great shame. Last time we did it in about 2012, parts of it were creaking and weedy. One lock-keeper even lent me his pristine red, double-tined fork so I could shift some weed while he took partook of lunch!

St. Jean to Dijon is rather 'plain' (apart from the lock pound lined with walnut trees) but thereafter it is wonderful.

The problem, at least in part, is probably the lack of commercial traffic, apart from the hotel boats. It's more of a cross-country route than a north-south through route.

[Athy]

30 minutes ago, Boaty Jo said:

 

The problem, at least in part, is probably the lack of commercial traffic, apart from the hotel boats. It's more of a cross-country route than a north-south through route.

Why would this be a problem? I would think that, with the exception of those big fat ones in the North, few French canals have any freight traffic nowadays. In recent years we've hired on the Canal de Garonne and the Canal Latéral a la Loire, both of which seemed to be in good nick.

[Dav and Pen]

We kept our barge on the Burgundy canal for some 10 years and our winter mooring was in the part of the canal which is under this threat. It was obviously being run down and the 50 locks from Venerey to Pouilly are in a poor state and need quite a lot of labour to pass boats through. The hotel boats either work the route from the summit to Dijon and the Saone or from Venerey to the Yonne although most of these have given up due to the state of this section of the canal due to lack of dredging and low water levels so they have gone to the Canal Loire.

Some years ago the VNF tried to hand over the canal to the region who were prepared to take it on and did so for a little while but the deal broke down over the pensions that they would have to take on. I understand from my friends there that there is a 2 year delay before a definite decision and there are rumors of something like sub contracting this section out to an infrastructure company. Closure would be a great shame as the locks are pretty easy and the area is very interesting.

 

[Boaty Jo]

13 hours ago, Athy said:

Why would this be a problem? I would think that, with the exception of those big fat ones in the North, few French canals have any freight traffic nowadays. In recent years we've hired on the Canal de Garonne and the Canal Latéral a la Loire, both of which seemed to be in good nick.

Don't know about the Garonne but the Lateral a La Loire is part of the north / south Route Bourbonnais linking the Seine to the Saone and Rhone and in 2010 / 2012 there was 'some' commercial traffic. But if push comes to shove is there enough commercial stuff these days to justify the maintenance spend? Don't know. There used to be a fair amount of hotel boat traffic down the southern end, the Canal du Centre.

 

The other north south routes, which hopefully they'll keep maintaining are the Champagne Bourgogne down the centre and the Canal des Vosges in the east (formerly Canal de L'est) though that seems to struggle for water. For example the branch to Epinal seems to be closed regularly.

The Ardennes and Ainse, further north and east / west canals, were choked with weed in places back in 2014 but very rural and pretty.

 

I suspect we've seen the best of both French and UK waterways, funding for both is a huge issue with the financial hole we're in.

 

Similar now I suspect but back in 2008 Dutch canals, used extensively for commercial traffic, were both well maintained and licence free (though both they and Belgium are hot on boat safety).

Edited March 2, 2023 by Boaty Jo