CANAL DEVELOPMENT IN FRANCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1652, 19 December 1916, Page 4

CANAL DEVELOPMENT IN FRANCE.

Marseilles, now known to so many New Zealanders as the most important port in Fra nee, is soon to he linked by a great canal and tunnel with the River Rhone and the vast system of inland waterways of which it is a part. Canals have long connected the Rhone with the waters of the Loire, Seine, Yonne and Rhine, .In order to reach Marseilles, however, the great traffic of waterways must traverse the Mediterranean for some distance, which entails considerable extra expense and some danger for small craft. It is this situation which has led to the constrnetion of the Mar-jseilles-Rhone Canal. Throughout its entire length, 51 miles, the Mar-peilles-Rhone Canal is at sea level, except where it joins the Rhone. The width of the canal is nearly 74 feet, and its depth nearlv 10 feet. jThe cost is estimated at nearly £4,000,000. The chief feature of the eanal is the Rove tunnel, which is remarkable for its span, or diameter, 72 feet 2 inches. In this respect the Rove tunnel surpasses everything else of the kind in the world. The height from the bottom of the .canal to the ceiling of the tunnel is a little more than 47 feet, which gives a section of nearly 3230 'square feet. This is eqnnl to six times that of an ordinary dojjldetrack railway tunnel. The excavation amounts to 2,877,000 cubic yards, or twice as much as was required for the const ruction of the two parallel tunnels of .the Simplon Railway, which hitherto has held the world’s record in that respect.. The 72 feet span of the tunnel gives room for two side paths, each nearly 7 feet wide, allowing for a continuous passage each way of two sea lighters with a carrying capacity of about 900 metric tons each. The lighters actually in use on the Rhone are only about 000 tons deadweight, and will pass easily in double line. The canal and the navigable part of the Rhone and jSaone will combine to give a continuous waterway of 337 miles for lighters of 600 tons deadweight without breaking hulk. Through the Burgundy Canal ami those of the Seine region, barges can reach the north of France and even the English Channel.