The Agde Round Lock ( French : L'Écluse Ronde d'Agde ) is a canal lock on the Canal du Midi that connects to the Hérault River in Agde , France. It is almost unique because it is round, which allows a boat to turn around, and the fact that it has three sets of lock gates, each with a different water level. It was built in 1676 of volcanic stone and was originally 29.20 m in diameter, 5.20 m deep.
4-513: The lock is no longer round . It was expanded during a program begun in 1978 to expand locks to the Freycinet gauge to allow for barges up to 38.50 metres long. Originally, buildings in the area of the lock included an administration building, stables, shops, and a chapel. The exits are to Béziers via the western section of the Canal du Midi, to Étang de Thau via the upper Hérault river and
8-429: A result of a law passed during the tenure of Charles de Freycinet as minister of public works of France, dating from 5 August 1879. The law required the size of lock chambers to be increased to a length of 39 metres (128 ft), a width of 5.2 metres (17 ft) and a minimum water depth of 2.2 metres (7 ft 3 in), thus allowing 300 to 350 tonne barges to pass through. Consequently, boats and barges, such as
12-464: The péniche , built to the Freycinet gauge could not exceed 38.5 metres (126 ft) in length, 5.05 metres (16.6 ft) in breadth and a draught of 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in). Bridges and other structures built across the canals are required to provide 3.7 metres (12 ft) of clearance. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries many French canals were modernised to conform to
16-611: The eastern section of the Canal du Midi, and south to the Mediterranean via the lower Hérault river. A second French round lock can be found in the form of the now-disused Écluse des Lorraines , connecting the Canal latéral à la Loire with the River Allier . Freycinet gauge The Freycinet gauge ( French : gabarit Freycinet ) is a standard governing the dimensions of the locks of some canals, put in place as
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