At the invitation of the Walloon Public Service, the members of the Seine-Scheldt EEIG held their monthly meeting on Friday 18 October at the inclined plane site of Ronquières (Hainaut province).
After the meeting, which provided an opportunity to take stock of current issues in the presence of the representative of the European agency CINEA, the representatives of the 4 operators responsible for implementing Europe’s largest wide-gauge river network (DVW, SPW, SCSNE, VNF) visited this exceptional structure, built in the 1960s as part of the general plan to modernise the Charleroi-Brussels canal.
Arrival of a boat on the ferry at the junction of the canal
Commissioned in 1968, the Ronquières inclined plane is 1,432 metres long and has a 68-metre drop. It consists of two metal tanks containing water and moving lengthways. Each tank weighs around 5,500 tonnes and is balanced by a counterweight weighing 5,200 tonnes. The ferries rest on rollers that run on rails and terminate at each end in a movable door opening the way for the boats. The operation of each of the ferries is independent of the other, so that at least one ferry can always be used for transit. The complex is controlled from a central station located in the upstream head.
Lifting the boat ferry on the tracks of the inclined plane
Pulley system
View of the internal mechanism
The structure has been undergoing major renovation for the last ten years, financed by the Walloon Public Service, with the support of the European Commission as part of the Seine-Scheldt cross-border project.
Our thanks to Dominique Simon, Nicolas Dubois and the staff of the Walloon Public Service for this fascinating visit of one of the most impressive sites on the Seine-Scheldt network !
