Presentation

Ronquieres boat lift, Ronquières inclined plane,Sloping Lock of Ronquières , Ronquieres bootlift, Ronquières hellend vlak, Hellende sluis van Ronquières

The inclined plane of Ronquières is a monumental structure built between 1960 and 1968 on the Charleroi Brussels Canal. Its construction was part of the general plan to modernize the canal to 1350 tons.

As a book of the time puts it very well, here, “the boats go on wheels”.

The Ronquières structure consists essentially of two metal tanks 91 meters long by 12 meters wide, containing water varying from 3 meters to 3.70 meters high, depending on the flotation of the upstream bay, and moving in the direction of their length. The bins end at each end with a movable door that opens when they come to stand against the terminal door of the upper or lower bay, thus leaving the passage to the boats.

Each tank, whose weight in running order varies from 5200 to 5600 tons is balanced by a counterweight of 5300 tons. Each tank rests on 236 rollers that run on 4 running rails. 192 rollers and 4 rails support the counterweight that moves under the tank in a reinforced concrete hopper. The guidance of a tank is provided by 24 steering rollers and 2 guide rails, located on either side of the tank. Similarly, 24 steering rollers guide the counterweight.

Read more>>>

In spring

In Autumn

In winter

In brief

It is not necessary to register to browse this site freely. We are not interested in your identity. The navigation is completely anonymous.

The Bacs

The tower

Hoppers

The Canal Bridge

The Lock of Ittre

The king in Ronquières

Vue_de_loin - Ittre_de_loin_004 Le_roi - Beauduin_premier_-9

History

History of the village

History of a construction site

History of the canal

village - VieuxRonquieres001 - Une très vieille carte postale de Ronquières qui semble dater du 19eme siècle. A l'avant-plan, les dindons de Ronquières qui ont fait la renommée de l'endroit 12 - Ronquieres_chantier_001
The story of Ronquières was written by both Emile Landercy and Abbé Georges Malherbe The pharaonic construction of Ronquières lasted from March 1961 to April 1968. The current canal passing through Ronquières is the third canal built there since 1832

It was during the reign of Philip the Good, Dukeof Burgundy (1396-1467) that the development of a waterway to serve the Hennuyères cities was first mentioned. An edict of 1436 authorized the recovery and deepening of the Senne. Project too expensive alas.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries canal projects were born: Charles V (1500-1558)and his son Philip IIKing of Spain (1527-1598) had given permission to build the canal with the first real project to connect the Willebrouck Canal (1561) to Charleroi. Project without a future.

The French saga of the Charleroi Canal in Brussels ended with Bonaparte’s views on the project, troubled by all the force he concentrated on a proudly expansionist foreign policy.

Read more

Word cloud

Under construction

In operation

Dryed

The construction of the inclined plane

Earthworks

Concreting

Bins

The Canal Bridge

The downstream
head

The
tower

The Lock of Ittre

The Ittre lock is the highest in the Charleroi – Brussels canal. It buys a height difference of about 15 meters.

Built during the transformation of the canal that allowed the passage of barges of 1350 tons, the lock of Ittre has several peculiarities.

It was built above ground, that is to say like a building. We first built a foundation on which we put the lock. It was only after that we let the water come in. So people had the impression of seeing a concrete building rise up before being confronted with the dam that we know today.

It is the lock that redeems the biggest difference in level between two reaches in Belgium

It is the only lock with a submersible gate, the downstream gate. It is therefore under water when the airlock is filled with water.

Lire la suite

The lock under construction

The lock seen from the sky

The lock in automn

The works at the inclinated plan

The works of the new 1350-ton canal

La vidange du pont canal

Les réparations à la trémie numéro 1

Le remplacement des poulies du bac numéro 1

Draguage du port aval

Réparations au treuil

 

Ecluse de Marchienne au pont

Ecluse de Gosselies

Tranchée de Godarville

Plan incliné de Ronquières

Tranchée d'Asquimpont

Ecluse d'Ittre

 

In the region

The Blue Forest

The Old
Canal

The wood of  la
Houssière

Nothing is more beautiful than the forest when it is adorned with some of its finest finery at the end of winter when, by the millions, the hyacinths of the woods spring through the carpet of fallen leaves. The construction of the new 1300-ton canal sounded the death knell for the old canal that meandered along the valley of the Senne then the Sennette, the Samme and finally the Piéton. If there is nothing left of the old canals downstream of Ittre, there are still beautiful portions of the old canals between Seneffe and Ittre. The wood of la Houssière occupies some 662 hectares on a five-kilometre-long hill between the villages of Henripont, Ronquières and Virginal. The ridge line, which rises to 163 meters above sea level, shares the watersheds of the Senne and its tributary, the Sennette. The valleys and ravines that cut it, especially on the steep slopes located on the edge of the forest perimeter, were formed either by sand pits or by streams born from the percolation of rainwater to the Ypresian clays through the thick layer of sand.

Asquimpont

 Clabecq

Fauquez

Henripont

Virginal

Oisquercq

Eglise_Saint_Pierre_Actuelle - Eglise_Virginal_-57 Oisquercq - Eglise_Oisquercq-5

The flea market of May 1st

Recent publications

The construction sites of the 1950s and 1960s

If it was the most spectacular, the Ronquières shipyard was not the only one in the region.
From 1950 until 1968, the Charleroi Brussels Canal area was dotted with construction sites that profoundly changed the landscape.

Dawn

Twilight

At night

Our thanks to the 50 visitors of the day.

Publications associées