The Canal des Vosges is 122 kilometres long and has 93 locks, 47 on the northern side of the summit and 46 on the southern side. The locks are all automatic and operated by the boater who is issued with a remote control unit (télécommande) as he/she joins the canal.
Most of the locks still have the original lock cottages in various states of repair but generally inhabited. Most of the cottages also have simple lock information plates above the front door.
Approaching a lock, the boater will see a red light outside the lock and when the appropriate button is pressed on the télécommande an orange light will flash next to the red one. The flashing orange light indicates that the lock knows a boat is waiting. When the lock starts being set then a green light will come on next to the red light showing the lock is being got ready. When the lock is ready for the boat the green light stays on and the red light goes out and the boat can enter the lock. Once moored securely, a metal rod set in the side of the lock is then lifted to set the remainder of the operation in progress. If two red lights or no lights at all are shown then the lock is out of operation.
All the locks are of Freycinet standard so take boats up to 39 metres in length and up to 5.05 metres wide.
When the canal was first built it was known as the Moselle-Saône Canal and then renamed the Canal de l'Est - Branche Sud, In 2003 it was renamed yet again, this time for touristic reasons, to the Canal des Vosges.
The following information is taken from www.french-waterways.com:
The canal originally connected with the Canal de la Marne au Rhin at Toul, 20km east of the junction with the northern branch at Troussey. Since 1979 it has been superseded by the canalised river Moselle over a distance of 26km to the steel works at Neuves-Maisons, accessible to Rhine barges and push-tows, although now the only traffic to this port is scrap metal. Renamed the Canal des Vosges, the waterway now extends 122km from Neuves-Maisons to the Saône at Corre. It follows the Moselle valley to Épinal, then rises sharply to a summit level at an altitude of 360m, the second highest in France after that of the Canal de Bourgogne. The descent towards the Saône, following the steep-sided Coney valley, is picturesque.
History – Public works were at a standstill after the Franco-Prussian War, but one canal project was immediately promoted as essential, to interconnect west of the Vosges the canals that were now intercepted by the border. The ‘Canal de l’Est’ was authorised by laws voted by the Assemblée Nationale in 1872 and 1874, and works began immediately. The canal was completed in 1880. Its southern branch, renamed Canal des Vosges, is now essentially devoted to tourism, with very little commercial traffic.
Please click on the following links for pictures of the locks:
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