Flat - bottomed barges have been hauling goods up the canal of Belgium for almost two one C . But by the 1950s , barges had outgrown the serial of locks and lifts along the Canal du Centre . This is the Belgians ’ € 160 million result .
In 1954 , the European Conference of Ministers of Transport adjudicate that , so as to make a single standard for flatboat dealings on European waterway , each boat would librate 1350 dozens . And , by 1957 , the “ law of 1350 tonnes ” was passed , dictating the sizing and weight of the Belgian duct mesh . This decision formally bed Belgium ’s Canal du Centre in the municipality of Le Rœulx , Hainaut , as its antiquated lock and lift organisation could only raise a utmost of 300 tons . By 1963 , Belgium had begun updating the canal and deemed the Canal du Centre eligible for upgrades . Another 19 years passed before crews break background on a surrogate for the outdated lifts , the Strépy - Thieu boat lift . This monolithic cosmetic surgery ended up taking two more decades to finish and cost € 160 million in total .
The Strépy - Thieu lift ignition lock is the tallest gravy boat lift on the planet , raising barge over 73 meters ( 240 metrical foot ) between the upstream and downstream sides . Constructed of concrete with 2200 lashings of steel support , the Strépy - Thieu weighs a staggering 220,000 piles — but to be fair , it involve to be to brook the massive torsional stress created during lifting . It consist of two caissons , each severally counter - angle and raise and lowered by a series of 144 85mm - thick steel cables . The ammunition chest make the vertical journey in about seven minutes — not bad regard that in addition to the 1350 ton hoy , the surrounding pee and caisson itself increase the average lift weight to 7200 - 8400 tons . A series of four galvanizing motors power to eight winches per pneumatic caisson .
However , the Brobdingnagian initial cost and hold off turned out to be a satisfying investment . Once functional , the new boat lift allowed 1350 - gross ton river traffic to pass between the Meuse and Scheldt rivers , increase traffic by an rules of order of magnitude , from 256 kilotons in 2001 to 2,295 kilotons in 2006 .
[ Wiki – Structurae – Canal - Du - Centre ]
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