Sloping Lock of Ronquières

(Local Name: Plan incliné de Ronquières) Just 4km/2.5miles north-east of Ecaussinnes is the technical spectacle of the sloping lock of Ronquières (Plan incliné de Ronquières), a gigantic barge lift on the canal from Charleroi to Brussels.

The difference in height between the Sambre Valley at Charleroi and the Senne south of Brussels was for a long time an insuperable obstacle to linking the canal network between north and south Belgium. The first canal project completed in 1832 involved 55 locks over a distance of 60km/37mi. This canal soon proved to be too small and following further enlargements in the 19th century it was decided to modernize the waterway in 1937. The work lasted from 1947 to 1968 and