Canal du Centre (France)

Canal du Centre
Canal du Centre in Paray-le-Monial.
Specifications
Length	112.1 km (69.7 mi)
Locks	61 (originally 80)
History
Former names	Canal du Charollais
Principal engineer	Émiland Gauthey
Date approved	1783
Construction began	1784
Date of first use	1792
Date completed	1792
Geography
Start point	Digoin
End point	Chalon-sur-Saône
Beginning coordinates	46°28′39″N 3°58′50″E / 46.47756°N 3.98053°E / 46.47756; 3.98053 at aqueduct crossing Loire in Digoin
Ending coordinates	46°47′53″N 4°52′48″E / 46.79812°N 4.88008°E / 46.79812; 4.88008
Branch of	Bourbonnais route
Connects to	Canal latéral à la Loire in Digoin, Saône in Chalon-sur-Saône

The Canal du Centre, originally known as the Canal du Charollais, is a French canal running from Digoin, where it now joins the Canal latéral à la Loire, to the River Saône in Chalon-sur-Saône. It was opened in 1792 and was the first watershed canal allowing boats to pass from the north of France to the south. It is 112.1 km long and has 61 locks. Most of its traffic was generated by now abandoned coal mines at Montceau-les-Mines.

The canal was first suggested during the 16th century, under King Francis I and a detailed plan was prepared by Adam de Craponne in the time of Henry II. But nothing more happened until the Chief Engineer of Burgundy, Émiland Gauthey obtained building powers in 1783. He selected a route which joined the valleys of the Loire and Saône and provided adequate water supplies at the summit. The first stone was laid in 1784 by Prince de Condé and despite the intervention of exceptional floods on the Loire in 1790, which totally wrecked a new port in Digoin, and the Revolution, the works were completed in 1792.

The canal brought new life to the Charollais and within 20 years of opening, many villages had sprung up along its banks. But the amount of traffic that could be carried towards Paris was limited by the fickle nature of the Loire, and it was estimated that the opening of the Canal Latéral à la Loire would triple the toll income of the canal. This happened in 1838, five years after the establishment of coal mines at Montceau-les-Mines, and this increased the traffic until in 1936 some 1,622,000 tonnes of coal was carried on the canal. The coal traffic declined during the 1980s, and the mines were closed in 2000.