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FONSERANNES LOCKS


Fonserannes eight locks flight- photo of Jacques Morand

    Pierre-Paul Riquet innovates again with another masterpiece!
The Fonserannes locks are formed of eight successive chambers which carry boats across a difference in ground level of 21.44 metre and offer the sight of a 304 metre long water staircase .
  Later on, the lower part has been suppress . From this amazing flight of locks one can enjoy a beautiful view of Beziers and its cathedral.

This picture was taken before the construction in 1987 of the inclined plane. This XX century work is a remarkable structure like the one (pente d'eau) in Montech.

avant la mise en place de la rampe : cliquez pour voir un agrandissementvue aérienne :  cliquez pour voir un agrandissement     In 1990, the Fonserannes site was provided with an inclined plane, system invented in 1960 by the engineer René Bouchet and the professor Jean Aubert. 

 This system allows boats to be pull on a concrete water slope .

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