Ronquières inclined plane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ronquières Inclined Plane is a Belgian canal inclined plane on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal in the province of Hainaut in Wallonia built in 1968. It is located in the municipality of Braine-le-Comte, and takes its name from the nearby village of Ronquières.
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[edit] Description
The Ronquières Inclined Plane has a length of 1,432 m and lifts boats through 67.73 m[1] vertically. It consists of two large caissons mounted on rails. Each caisson measures 91 m long by 12 m wide and has a water depth between 3 and 3.70 m. It can carry one boat of 1,350 tonnes or many smaller boats within the same limits.
Each caisson is pulled by 8 cables wound by a winch with a 5,200 tonne capacity[citation needed]. Each caisson has a counterweight running in the trough below the rails, which permits the caisson to be moved independently of the other.
Each caisson can be moved between the two canal levels at a speed of 1.2 m/s taking about 22 minutes.
It takes 50 minutes in total to pass through the 1800 m of the entire structure, including the raised canal bridge at the top end.[1]
[edit] Photo Gallery
 Boat waiting before the inclined plane. |
 Lower Control Tower and Machine Hall. |
 Caisson on route. |
 The Inclined Plane. |
[edit] Further reading
- Tew, David (1984). Canal Inclines and Lifts. Sutton Books. ISBN 0-8629-9031-9.
- Uhlemann, Hans-Joachim (2002). Canal lifts and inclines of the world, English Translation, Internat. ISBN 0-9543-1811-0.
[edit] References
- ^ a b The inclined plane of Ronquières. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
[edit] See also
- Strépy-Thieu boat lift
- Article on the French-language Wikipedia from which this article was translated
- Falkirk Wheel
[edit] External links
- Satellite photo of the Inclined Plane on WikiMapia
- Official Site
- Plan incliné de Ronquières in the Structurae database — with photos
