I have been boating since the mid 1970’s but this October 2016 was the first time that I have skippered a vessel on a canal.
Our home for two weeks was a chartered Linssen steel motor yacht which we collected from Briare. After making our way through the marina and negotiated our first three locks, which was fun, we made our way to the Briare Aqueduct.
I was so impressed with the Aqueduct that I wanted to dedicate a video just to the Aqueduct.
The Briare Aqueduct carries the Canal latéral à la Loire over the River Loire on its journey to the River Seine in France. It replaced a river-level crossing from the canal to meet the Briare Canal that was hazardous in times of flood. Between 1896 and 2003 it was the longest navigable aqueduct in the World until the opening of the Magdeburg Water Bridge.
It is part of the Canal latéral à la Loire, not, as is commonly believed, the Briare Canal.
The Briare aqueduct near Châtillon-sur-Loire was, for a long time, the longest steel canal aqueduct in the world. The aqueduct is 662 metres long and lost its title of longest aqueduct to the Magdeburg Water Bridge which crosses the Elbe and is 918 metres long. The aqueduct was designed by the engineers Léonce-Abel Mazoyer and Charles Sigault. The masonry abutments and piers were completed between 1890 and 1896 by Gustave Eiffel and the steel channel was completed by Daydé & Pillé of Creil. The aqueduct was inaugurated on 16 September 1896 with the crossing of the boat Aristide, belonging to Ernest Guingamp. It allowed the development of transport to the Freycinet gauge between the Loire and Seine, and is a registered historic monument in France.
The aqueduct is built on fourteen piers. These piers support a single steel beam in turn supporting a steel channel which contains more than 13,000 tonnes of water, 2.2 meters deep and 6 metres wide allowing boats with a 1.8m draught to cross. The width of the aqueduct, towpaths included, is 11.5 meters and its length is 662.7 meters. There is a line of standard lamps on each side of aqueduct. Each end is marked by two ornamental columns in imitation of the Pont Alexandre III in Paris. Eight sluices make it possible to empty the aqueduct in the event of severe freezing.
The following equipment is used in the making of my videos. If you are interested in any of products they can be acquired at Amazon.
Canon 80D https://goo.gl/L3JuHT (Amazon Affiliate)
Canon 18-135 lens https://goo.gl/XSnhUj (Amazon Affiliate)
Muvi K Series Action Camera https://goo.gl/C6WuqG (Amazon Affiliate)
Rode Wireless Microphone https://goo.gl/Ls14ve (Amazon Affiliate)
Hahnel MK200 Microphone https://goo.gl/sEGFcP (Amazon Affiliate)
Manfrotto Tripod https://goo.gl/ivzJFi (Amazon Affiliate)
MagiDeal Pro Fluid Video Mini Head for Manfrotto Tripod https://goo.gl/BJA71d (Amazon Affiliate)
Koolertron 24″ DSLR Camera Slider Video Track Dolly Rail https://goo.gl/8yi8sF (Amazon Affiliate)
This is the useful book used on out trip and covers all of the French Waterways.
Inland Waterways of France https://goo.gl/7K6X2v (Amazon Affiliate)
This is a useful book
The European Waterways https://goo.gl/GoFpzK (Amazon Affiliate)
