The Burgundy Canal (French: Canal de Bourgogne) is a canal in Burgundy in central eastern France. There are two river entrances; to the north the Yonne River allows access in the town of Migennes, and in the south the Saône allows access in the town Saint-Jean-de-Losne. The construction began in 1775 and was completed in 1832. The canal connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea via the Seine and the Yonne to the Saône and Rhône.
The canal is 242 km (150 mi) long, with 189 locks. There were originally 191 lock basins but the double-basin locks at Migennes (114-115Y) and Germigny (106-107Y) have had the uppermost set of gates removed and now operate as single locks, though twice as deep as a standard lock (5m13 and 5m14 instead of the usual 2m50 - 3m)
It passes through the departments of Yonne and Côte-d'Or. The highest point of the canal is the "partition" at Pouilly-en-Auxois, which is 378m above sea level. At this point the canal passes through a tunnel which is 3,333 metres long. The lowest point is at the junction with the Yonne at 79 m (259 ft) above sea level.
Famous quotes containing the word canal:
“My impression about the Panama Canal is that the great revolution it is going to introduce in the trade of the world is in the trade between the east and the west coast of the United States.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)