Canal de Marseille - Construction

Construction

The building of the canal took 15 years, from 1839–1854 and covered 80 kilometres (50 mi) of which 17 kilometres (11 mi) were underground. The canal also traverses 18 bridges.

Indeed, a major challenge faced was passing the canal through the valley of the Arc, which has an altitude of less than 100 metres (328 ft) between Aix-en-Provence and the Etang de Berre. The project's head engineer Franz Mayor of Montricher, refused the proposal of a bridge-trap and decided to make an aqueduct in which the plateaus along the valley were closest at 400 metres (1,312 ft): this would be the Roquefavour Aqueduct at Ventabren, inspired by the Roman architectural work Pont du Gard. Since, the aqueduc Roquefavour, with a length of 393 metres (1,289 ft) has been regarded as one of the main tourist attractions in the Aix-en-Provence region.

The canal is mostly constructed of concrete, although some portions are created from stone or brick. The canal's flow is 10 cubic metres (10 kl) per second, the slope is .36 metres (1.2 ft) per 1 kilometre (0.62 mi). The width at the top is 9.4 metres (31 ft), and the width at the basin is 3 metres (10 ft).

Water began flowing through the partially unfinished canal on November 19, 1849 in Marseille. Between 1854 and 1869, 77 kilometres (48 mi) of pipes, tanks, and basins were constructed, allowing access to water throughout Marseille and the neighboring communes of Plan-de-Cuques, Allauch, and Aubagne.

Despite the doubling of the population in the next forty years, Marseille in 1876 had over thirty times more water per capita: 370 litres (98 US gal) for domestic usage and 660 litres (174 US gal) for industrial activities, daily.