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Canal du Nord
Canal du Nord
	The Canal du Nord near Hermies
Specifications
Length	95 km (59 mi)
Lock length	91.9 m (302 ft)
Lock width	6 m (20 ft)
Locks	19
Status	Open
Tunnels:	Ruyaulcourt tunnel, Panneterie tunnel
History
Principal engineer	Gabarit Freycinet
Construction began	1908
Date completed	1965
Geography
Start point	Canal latéral à l'Oise, Pont-l'Évêque, France
End point	Sensée Canal, Arleux, France

50°17′N 3°07′E / 50.283°N 3.117°E / 50.283; 3.117

Canal du Nord

Legend

					Sensée Canal
					Arleux
					Rue du Bias, Arleux
					Malderez Canal
					Lock No. 1 (Palluel)
					Rue d'en Haut, Palluel
					Rue des Stations, Sauchy-Cauchy
					A26 autoroute
					Port of Marquion
					Route National (D939)
					Lock No. 2 (Marquion)
					Rue du Sains, Sains-lès-Marquion
					Lock No. 3 (Sains-lès-Marquion)
					Rue du Sains-lès-Marquion
					Lock No. 4 (Inchy-en-Artois)
					Rue d'en Haut, Mœuvres
					Lock No. 5 (Mœuvres)
					Route de Cuquiche, Mœuvres

					Route de Bapaume (D930)
					Lock No. 6
					Lock No. 7

					Rue d'Hermies

					Ruyaulcourt Tunnel
					Ruyaulcourt
					A2 autoroute

					Chaussee Brunehaut (D58)
					Rue d'Equancourt (C6)
					Rue de Douai (C7)
					Rue de la Taille, Manancourt
					Side Wharf
					Rue Canal, Moislains
					Rue Garre, Moislains
					Moislains Public Quay
					Lock No. 8 (Moislains)
					Lock No. 9
					Lock No. 10 (Allaines)
					Route d'Allaines, Allaines
					Rue d'Arras (D1017), Feuillaucourt
					Lock No. 11 (Feuillaucourt)
					Route d'Albert (D938)
					Lock No. 12 (Halles)
					River Somme
					Junction with the Somme Canal
					Port de Plaisance, Péronne
					Faubourg de Paris (D1017), Péronne
					Lock No. 13 (La Chalelette)
					Chaussee Brunehaut (D1029), Brie
					Saint-Christ-Briost Wharf
					Saint-Christ-Briost Bridge
					A29 autoroute
					Lock No. 14 (Épénancourt)
					Pargny Bridge
					Béthencourt-sur-Somme Bridge

					Junction with the Somme Canal
					Route de Rouy, Rouy-le-Petit
					Railway Bridge
					Route de Nesle (D930)
					Lock No. 15 (Languevoisin-Quiquery)
					Grand Rue, Languevoisin-Quiquery
					Languevoisin-Quiquery Public Port
					Rue du Coquis, Breuil
					Buverchy Bridge
					Lannoy Wharf
					Lannoy Bridge
					Libermont Bridge
					Panneterie Tunnel

					Rue de la Gare, Frétoy-le-Château
					Lock No. 16 (Campagne)
					Campagne Bridge
					Rue de Catingy, Catigny
					Rue de Genets, Béhencourt
					Rue de l'Eglise, Haudival
					Lock No. 17 (Haudival)
					Rue de Beaurains, Beaurains-lès-Noyon
					D934
					Coopérative Agora wharf
					Route de Montdidier (D938), Noyon
					Lock No. 18 (Noyon)
					Noyon Bridge
					D1032
					Lock No. 19 (Pont-l'Évêque)
					Rue du Mont Renaud
					Creil–Jeumont railway bridge
					Pont-l'Évêque public wharf
					Oise Lateral Canal

The Canal du Nord (French pronunciation: [kanal dy nɔʁ], literally Canal of the North) is a 95-kilometre (59 mi) long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise at Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal at Arleux.^[2] The French government, in partnership with coal-mining companies in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments, developed the canal to help French coal mining companies withstand foreign competition. Construction of the canal began in 1908 but halted in 1914, because of the First World War. The war caused widespread destruction of the canal and the French government made no attempt to resume construction until 1959. Construction recommenced in 1960 and the waterway opened to the public in 1965. The Canal du Nord and the Canal de Saint-Quentin may be supplanted by the Seine–Nord Europe Canal, a projected high capacity link between the Oise River at Janville and the high capacity Dunkirk-Escaut Canal.

History

Until the construction of the Canal du Nord, the Canal de Saint-Quentin was the only waterway linking the Seine basin to the north of France.^[2] The rise of the coal industry in Pas-de-Calais eventually saturated traffic on the Canal de Saint-Quentin and necessitated a new transportation link to the Île-de-France region to ensure that the northern French coal mining companies could effectively compete against their Belgian and English equivalents.^[2]^[3] In 1860, the principal coal companies in the Pas-de-Calais département grouped themselves into a Comité des Houillères du Pas-de-Calais, responsible for coping with transportation problems.^[3] The group expanded into the Comité des Houillères du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais in 1878, and began taking steps towards obtaining fundamental improvements in water connections.^[3]

A special commission of the French Ministry of Public Works conducted their first study in 1878 to find a “suitable means of putting the coal mines in a position to withstand foreign competition".^[3] The concept of the canal was included in the Freycinet Plan, a public works project whereby the government purchased railroads and built extensive new railways and waterways.^[4]^[5] Plans for the canal were presented to the Chamber of Deputies in 1882.^[6]

On 23 December 1903, the French government authorized construction of the Canal du Nord, a 93-kilometre long canal from Arleux to Pont-l'Évêque.^[7] The Canal du Nord would accommodate barges up to 300 tonnes and because it both increased waterway capacity and decreased transport distance, it was expected to decrease freight costs by up to 30%.^[7]

In 1908 construction began on the canal.^[7] Under the plan, coal-mining companies contributed one-third of the construction cost and by 1914 this amounted to 23 million francs of the total 72 million francs in incurred expenses.^[7] Three quarters of the excavations, 11 locks and all of the bridges were complete, with work well advanced on the tunnels, when World War I forced a halt in construction.^[2] The war resulted in widespread destruction of the canal and the French government did not attempt to resume building until much after World War II, when the rapid economic growth experienced by France in the 1950s saw a marked increase in bulk transport requirements between the Seine basin and the north, and it again became urgent to complete the project. The works were carried out in the early 1960s and the canal opened to navigation in 1966.^[8]

Future

The canal is expected to be abandoned and possibly even infilled in sections, when the projected parallel Seine-Nord Europe Canal has been built, as currently planned over the years 2018-2024.^[8]

Battle of Canal du Nord

The Battle of the Canal du Nord was part of a general Allied offensive against German positions on the Western Front during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. The battle took place along an incomplete portion of the Canal du Nord and on the outskirts of Cambrai between 27 September and 1 October 1918. To avoid the risk of having extensive German reserves massed against a single Allied attack, the assault along the Canal du Nord was undertaken as part of a number of closely sequenced Allied attacks at separate points along the front. It began one day after the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, one day before an offensive in the Flanders region of Belgium, and two days before the Battle of St. Quentin Canal.^[9]

En Route

PK 0 Arleux
PK 14 Mœuvres
PK 48 Péronne, connection with Grande Somme
PK 60 Épénancourt
PK 66 Voyennes, connection with Petite Somme
PK 92 Noyon
PK 95 Pont-l'Évêque

Notes

^ McKnight 2005.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d McKnight 2005, p. 30.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gillet 1984, p. 112.
^ Gillet 1984, p. 209.
^ Gillet 1984, p. 161.
^ Revue, p. 325.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gillet 1984, p. 113.
^ ^a ^b Edwards-May, David (2010). Inland Waterways of France. St Ives, Cambs., UK: Imray. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-846230-14-1.
^ Tucker 1996, pp. 421–422.

References

"Bulletin de 1883". Revue de géographie commerciale (in French). 6 (2). Bordeaux: Société de géographie commerciale de Bordeaux. 1883.
Gillet, Marcel, ed. (1984), Histoire sociale du Nord et de l'Europe du Nord-Ouest (in French), Lille: Université de Lille, ISBN 2-86531-020-5
Edwards-May, David. Inland Waterways of France, 8th edition (2010). pp185–187. Imray. ISBN 978-1-846230-14-1
McKnight, Hugh (2005), Cruising French Waterways (4 ed.), Dobbs Ferry: Sheridon House, ISBN 1-57409-210-3
Tucker, Spencer, ed. (1996), The European powers in the First World War: an encyclopaedia, New York: Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8153-0399-8

External links

Canal du Nord with maps and details of places, moorings and services (by the author of Inland Waterways of France, Imray)
Navigation details for 80 French rivers and canals (French waterways website section)