The European canals : A Chronology by Christopher (Rusty) Tunnard

The European canals : A Chronology

1285	First lock pound (*polder) built in Holland, followed fifty years later by the Vreeswijk Canal* from Utrecht to river Lek.
1462-1470	Construction of the twenty four mile long *Martesana Canal* near Milan, and the world's first canal aqueduct.
c.1480	*Leonardo da Vinci* credited with invention of the modern lock gate.
c.1500	*Francis I*, impressed with Italian canal technology returns to France with Leonardo da Vinci to study the possibilities of connecting the rivers of southern France by canals.
1603-1646	Construction of Canal de Briare (21¼ miles long (34.2 kilometres)), the first summit-level canal, built to link the Loire and Seine Rivers.
1666	*Louis XIV* and his chief minister, *Colbert, approve construction of the Midi Canal, Canal Royale du Languedoc* by *Pierre-Paul Riquet, Baron de Bonrepos. Construction begins in the following year of what is well known as Le Canal du Midi* The Midi Canal.
1672	Toulouse to Naurouze section completed.
1673	Grand Bassin at Castelnaudary built to provide sufficient water for quadruple-lock staircase of St. Roch.
1681	Midi Canal completed and opened on May 15, connecting the Mediterranean Sea at Sète to the Garonne River at Toulouse and eventually the Atlantic Ocean at Bordeaux.

1856	Opening of Canal Lateral à la Garonne (193kms (120miles) long; 53 locks), linking the Midi Canal at Toulouse to the Gironde estuary at Castets-en-Dorthe. Before the construction of this canal, barges travelling from Toulouse to Bordeaux had to navigate the swiftly flowing Garonne River; sometimes with disastrous results. This new canal finally fulfilled Riquet's dream: to link the Atlantic to the Mediterranean by man-made waterways.

From The Canal du Midi and the Languedoc - a Sightseeing Guide - moc.lanacidim@ytsur