Locks: Canal du Centre

The Canal du Centre runs from Digoin at its western end up to Chalon-sur-Saône at the other, thus providing a route from the Loire to the Saône. This canal therefore enabled through passage from the Mediterranean via the Rhône onto the Saône and then the Loire to the Atlantic at Nantes.

The canal was opened in 1792 primarily to transport coal from the mines around Montceau-les-Mines. It is 112 kilometres long and has 61 locks which are not manned; they are set from a command centre that boaters have to keep in touch with by telephone as they travel the canal. Once in each lock the boater has to pull a cord to start the lock operation. When the operation is complete and the gates open they have one minute to leave the lock before the gates close – that could be fun if they're sharing with a lot of boats.

The locks are all built to the Freycinet standard size of 38.5 x 5.05 metres.

There are 26 locks on the western side of the summit numbered 1 to 26 with a suffix of Océan indicating the lock is on the Atlantic side of the summit.

There are 35 locks on the eastern side of the summit numbered 1 to 35 with a suffix of Méditerranée indicating the lock is on the Méditerranée side of the summit.

When the locks were extended to the Freycinet standard in the 1870s, seven of the first 20 locks Méditerranée side of the summit were removed and several of the remaining locks were deepened. Consequently some locks are seen with two numbers, the original number and the post-Freycinet number.

A further five locks were replaced at the bottom end of the canal near Chalon-sur-Saône. Consequently some of the lowest locks have a difference of 12 between their original number and the new one given in the 1870s.

Écluses 1 - 26: Océan

Écluses 1 - 17: Méditerranée

Écluses 18 - 34: Méditerranée