The Strepy-Thieu Funicular Lift

Belgian Boat Lifts: The Strépy-Thieu Boat Lift - L'ascenseur funiculaire de Strépy-Thieu

The Strépy-Thieu boat lift lies on a branch of the Canal du Centre in the municipality of Le Rœulx, Hainaut, Belgium. With a height difference of 73.15 meters (240.0 ft) between the upstream and downstream reaches, it is the tallest boat lift in the world.

The boat lift was designed during the Canal du Centre's modernization program in order to replace a system of two locks and four 16-meter lifts dating from 1888 to 1919. The canal itself began operations in 1879 and its locks and lifts were able to accommodate vessels of up to 300 tonnes. By the 1960s, this was no longer adequate for the new European standard of 1350 tonnes for barge traffic, and a replacement was sought.

Construction of the lift commenced in 1982 and was not completed until 2002 at an estimated cost of € 160 million (then 6.4 billion BEF), but once operational, permitted river traffic of up to the new 1350-tonne standard to pass between the waterways of the Meuse and Scheldt rivers. The lift increased river traffic from 256 kT in 2001 to 2,295 kT in 2006.

The four older lifts, now bypassed on the original line of the Canal du Centre to the south, are still in use, but are limited to recreational traffic only. Their architectural and historical value has led them to be placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The structure at Strépy-Thieu consists of two independent counter-weighted caissons, which travel vertically between the upstream and downstream sections. Due to the Archimedes' Principle, the caissons weigh the same whether they are laden with a boat or simply contain water. In practice, variations in the water level mean that the mass of each caisson varies between 7200 and 8400 tonnes. The caissons have useful dimensions of 112 m by 12 m and a water depth of between 3.35 and 4.15 m. Each caisson is supported by 112 suspension cables (for counterbalance) and 32 control cables (for lifting/lowering), each of 85 mm diameter.
Four electric motors power eight winches per caisson via speed-reduction gearboxes and the 73.15-meter lift is completed in seven minutes.

Text: Wikipedia

Belgium The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx

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Canal lift & Incline Plain in Belgium 2003

The usual method of overcoming altitude changes on a navigable river or canal is by one or more locks. When the change in height is so great as to make a locks impracticable and boat lift or an incline plane are two of the options used. This video shows both types in action.

The Strépy-Thieu boat lift lies on a branch of the Canal du Centre in the municipality of Le Rœulx, Hainaut, Belgium. With a height difference of 73.15 metres (240.0 ft) between the upstream and downstream reaches, it was the tallest boat lift in the world, and remained so until the Three Gorges dam boat lift in China was completed in January 2016.

The Ronquières Inclined Plane is a Belgian canal inclined plane on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal in the province of Hainaut. It has a length of 1,432 metres (4,698 ft) and lifts boats through 67.73 metres (222.2 ft)[2] vertically. It consists of two large caissons mounted on rails. Each caisson measures 91 metres (299 ft) long by 12 metres (39 ft) wide and has a water depth between 3 and 3.70 metres (9.8 and 12.1 ft). It can carry a boat up to 1,350 tonnes or smaller boats within the same limits. Each caisson can be moved between the two canal levels at a speed of 1.2 metres per second (3.9 ft/s), taking about 22 minutes. It takes 50 minutes in total to pass through the 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) of the entire structure, including the raised canal bridge at the top end.

Strépy-Thieu boat lift

The Strépy-Thieu funicular boat lift is the tallest in the world. Located on the Canal du Centre near the Walloon towns of La Louvière and Le Rœulx in Belgium. It allows the boats passing through a downhill of 73,15 metres. It replaced in 2002 the four old hydraulic boat lifts on the origininal section of the canal, built between 1888 and 1917, which are now an UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Strépy-Thieu boat lift in Belgium, part 4.

The large lock gate closes.

Scheepslift van Strépy-Thieu

Maneuver naar beneden met de scheepslift van Strépy-Thieu, gefilmd vanop de boot. De boot zakt met 73 meter tijdens het maneuver.

Descente avec l'ascenseur de Strépy-Thieu. Filmé depuis le bateau. La différence de niveau est de 73 mètres.

Going down with the boat lift of Strépy-Thieu in Belgium. Filmed from the boat. The difference in level is 73 meters.