Oise Lateral Canal

Canal latéral à l'Oise
Lock on the Oise at L'Isle-Adam, Val-d'Oise, France
Specifications
Length	34 km (21 mi)
Lock length	39 m (128 ft)
Lock width	6.50 m (21.3 ft)
Locks	4
Status	Open
History
Date completed	1831
Geography
Start point	Canal de Saint-Quentin at Chauny
End point	Oise at Janville
Beginning coordinates	49.60417°N 3.22033°E / 49.60417; 3.22033
Ending coordinates	49.45750°N 3.85933°E / 49.45750; 3.85933
Connects to	Canal de Saint-Quentin, Canal du Nord, River Oise

The Canal latéral à l'Oise (French pronunciation: [kanal lateʁal a lwaz]) is a canal in northern France that, along with the river Oise, connects the Canal de Saint-Quentin at Chauny to the Seine at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.^[1] See under the river Oise for the continuation of the route; the junction is made downstream of the lock at Janville 49.45750°N 2.85933°E / 49.45750; 2.85933. When a canal is latéral (literally 'running beside'), it follows the course of the river it is named after but in a separate excavated channel. The route described below is the 34 km of canal parallel to the river Oise and 103.5 km of the canalised river Oise.

History

The canal latéral was built in 1831 to provide a reliable navigation between Chauny and Janville, bypassing the winding course of the river Oise. Initially built to smaller dimensions, the locks were later doubled and enlarged to the Freycinet standard. With the opening of the Canal du Nord in 1965, it was decided to further improve the canal downstream of the junction with this new canal. The canal was made wider and deeper, and two new locks 100 by 12 m were built around 1970.^[2]

Development

The 16-km length of the canal from Pont-l'Évêque to Janville (along with the river Oise beyond Janville to the confluence with the river Aisne) is projected to be replaced by the future high-capacity Seine–Nord Europe Canal.^[3]

En route

The PK numbers below go from 0 to 34 at Janville and then decrease from 103.5 to 0 at the Seine.

• PK 0 Chauny junction with the Canal de Saint-Quentin
• PK 3 Junction with the canalised river Aisne (heading east towards Abbécourt and Reims)
• PK 18 Pont l'Eveque
• PK 18.5 Junction (right bank) with the Canal du Nord
• PK 33 Longueil-Annel
• PK 34 Lock #4, double, at Janville, route continues to the river Seine as canalised river Oise (103.5 km)

Location of the Canal lateral à l'Oise in relation to the canalised river Oise and the other canals towards northern France, the Meuse, the Aisne and the Marne, from the European Waterways Map and Directory, 5th edition (Transmanche)

See also

• List of canals in France

References

1. Jefferson, David (2009). Through the French Canals. Adlard Coles Nautical. pp. 14, 111–112. ISBN 978-1-4081-0381-4.
2. Berg, Charles. "Canal Latéral à l'Oise - l'intermédiaire entre l'Oise à grand gabarit et le canal du Nord d'une part, et les canaux du nord-est d'autre part".
3. Edwards-May, David (2010). Inland Waterways of France. St Ives, Cambs., UK: Imray. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-846230-14-1.

External links

• River Oise and Canal lateral à l'Oise maps and information on places, ports and moorings on the canal, by the author of Inland Waterways of France, Imray
• Navigation details for 80 French rivers and canals (French waterways website section)