campaigning for inland waterways worldwide since 1995

The damaged vessel, 'Vedette'

Late in the afternoon on the 17^th January 2002, a catastrophic accident occurred at one of the four historic boat lifts (no. 1) on the Canal du Centre, near La Louvière, Belgium.Ý

The 350 ton péniche 'Vedette', carrying 238 tonnes of coiled wire, was leaving the lower caisson, when inexplicably, the caisson started to rise. The 'Vedette' was caught amidships by the overhead 'guillotine' gates and trapped halfway out. The caisson continued to rise and tilted forward as the front of the caisson was prevented from rising by the 'Vedette' and the 'guillotine' gates. From the damage caused to the caisson guides on the central support towers, it appears that the caisson managed to rise at least to the halfway point.Ý

Substantial damage was inflicted to 'Vedette', the 'guillotine' gates seriously crushing the cargo hold and then as the caisson returned back to ground level, the 'Vedette' slid further out of the tilted caisson, ripping out the twin rudders from the rear of the hull and removing the wheelhouse on the  'guillotine' gates. In addition, one of the coils of wire punctured the forward bulkhead and diesel tank. Fortunately, the diesel was contained within the hold area and not released into the canal. 

The structural damage to the lift, built in 1888 and operational since 1917, is considerable. The caisson has been seriously buckled and warped and will need to be replaced. Superficial damage has been caused to the six towers but inspection of the hydraulic ram under the caisson cannot be viewed (flooded). If the ram is damaged then this will be a further serious setback. There have been problems with this lift for nearly four years due to a serious leak in the hydraulics that causes the ascending caisson not to reach full height and backup hydraulic pumps have to be used to assist the last few feet causing a considerable time delay. It is not known if this was a contributory factor in the accident.

Preliminary conjecture has suggested the lift will be closed for at least six months. The new boat lift at Strépy-Thieu and canal to bypass the four historic lifts and upgrade this important route to 1350 tonnes from 300 tonnes, was due to be operational in a few months time but this has recently been delayed until September 2002.Ý

The Canal du Centre and the four lifts have become an important tourist attraction and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site due to the resolute efforts of Jean-Pierre Gailliez over the past twenty years. It is important that these efforts do not go in vain and it is hoped that the necessary action is taken to restore the lift back to full working condition in the shortest possible time.   

The damaged lift

First 1350 tonner through Strépy lift

American aqueducts restored

The 1350 tonne motor barge CBR12, with skipper Degallaix at the helm, was the first commercial vessel to use the 73.15m high Strépy lift, during a specially organised trial run on 6th November 2001. The barge was whisked up to the summit level of the Canal du Centre at 20cm per second, taking just 7 minutes in all. Total transit time was about 40 minutes.

The barge had to turn around in the upstream waiting bay and return to the Scheldt (Escaut), since the 3 km connection to the completed canal at La Louvière remains to be completed.

The Canal du Centre will be opened to European Class Va barges and push-tows in June 2002, at a total cost of 670 million Ä.

The Monocacy aqueduct, one of 11 on the 186 mile (300km) Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, may be fully restored, if the current fund-raising initiative organised jointly by the C & O Canal Association and the National Parks Service is successful. The project is supported by the American Society of Civil Engineers, who consider the structure to be historically significant and worthy of restoration.

Like many structures on the canal, the Monocacy aqueduct (515 ft/ 157 m long) suffered considerable damage during hurricane Agnes in 1972.

Camilus aqueduct on the original Erie Canal south west of Syracuse, NY, is another candidate for restoration, but project costs have escalated because of the authority's insistence on use of original materials.

^

A selection of the news items in the last issue of
'World Wide Waterways' magazine.

Decision pending on Danube works....

...and on the Elbe in Czech Republic

A decision is expected shortly on improvement of the Danube in Germany between Straubing and Vilshofen, a length of 70km. Inland shipping is severely handicapped by the restricted depths in this section, 1m less than those available elsewhere throughout the 3500km route from the North Sea to the Black sea.

Long and costly investigations (more than 5 million Ä) were needed to make a well informed decision, and above all to assuage fears regarding the relative environmental impact of the works.

Several different solutions have been evaluated, ranging from a 'low-profile' scheme which improves depths locally, while not altering the width of the channel, to the 'highest-profile' scheme with three new dams and locks, of max height 3m, compared to the 6-8m of the existing dams. Intermediate solutions are larger-scale free-flow regulation, providing a wider channel, and a mixed scheme with one new dam and lock and channel improvements elsewhere.

Waterway interests are pressing for the latter solution, the only one which would guarantee 2.50m depths all year round. It is also argued that without substantial works, regressive erosion due to the reduction in solid transport from upstream could lead to lowering of the river bed by up to 1m. 

Environmental impact assessment is nearly completed for two projected locks on the free-flowing river Elbe (Labe) in the Czech Republic from the German border up to Usti nad Labem. Construction could start this year (2002) on the two locks, at Dolni Zleb and Male Brezno, which are needed to provide the 2.80m draught that is available in the canalised river upstream of Usti.

Development of inland shipping is seriously limited in the present situation with available draughts as little as 90cm in low flow periods.

In Germany, only free-flow regulation works are envisaged, to provide a guaranteed draught of 1.60m instead of the current 1.30m.

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