Centre canal
The Canal du Centre is a canal in France, 112 km in length. It connects the Saône and the Canal Latéral à la Loire and overcomes the height difference between the two rivers through 35 locks on the Saône side and 26 locks towards the Loire. Despite being adapted to Freycinet dimensions, the canal remains narrow due to its many bends, which were not designed for barges.
Characteristics
The biggest challenge in realizing the canal was the supply of sufficient water to feed it. At its opening in 1793, the many natural lakes were used, including the Longpendu lake itself, which was separated by a dam, the Neuf and Saint-Pierre lakes, which were bought by the state in 1804, the Montchanin and Corne-aux-Vilains lakes. There were also two artificial lakes created: Berthaud and La Muette. The capacity of the entire system was 150,000 m3, but it was still very limited.
In the 19th century, additional work was carried out. The Torcy-Vieux lake with 2.5 million cubic meters and the adaptation of Torcy-Neuf added another 9.3 million. On the other side of the canal came the Plessis lake.