Seine-Nord Europe Canal

Seine-Nord Europe Canal
Location of the Seine-Nord Europe Canal in northern France.
Specifications
Length	107 km
Lock length	195 m (640 ft)
Lock width	12.50 m (41.0 ft)
Maximum boat length	185 m (607 ft) (push-tug + 2 barges)
Maximum boat beam	11.40 m (37.4 ft)
Minimum boat draft	3.50 m (11.5 ft)
Locks	6 (originally 7)
Total rise	53.60 m (175.9 ft)
Status	Preparation for tender
History
Date approved	2009
Expected completion	2024
Geography
Start point	Oise River at Compiègne
End point	Liaison Dunkerque-Escaut Aubencheu-au-Bac
Connects to	River Oise

The Seine–Nord Europe Canal is a projected high-capacity (grand gabarit) canal in France that would link the Oise River at Compiègne with the Canal Dunkerque-Escaut, east of Arleux. The objective is to expand trade flows in a fuel-efficient and ecologically friendly manner between the Seine basin and Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, while reducing saturation on the A1 motorway in France and reducing the CO2 emissions in the transport sector within this corridor.

The canal will be the French section of the Seine-Escaut (Scheldt) European waterway, which includes further major investments on the Canal Dunkerque-Escaut, on the Lys/Leie in Flanders and on the waterways in Wallonia. It will run 107 km from just north of Compiègne, to the Canal Dunkerque-Escaut, crossing the regions of Picardy and Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

The 107-kilometre-long canal will connect the Seine and Scheldt rivers and facilitate inland water transport. When the new Seine-Nord connection is ready, it will allow large vessels to transport goods between the Seine river (and the Paris area) and the ports of Dunkerque, Antwerp, and Rotterdam, or further into Europe. The canal will replace the Canal de Saint-Quentin and the current Canal du Nord, increasing maximum barge capacity from 650 to 4400 tonnes.

The canal will include several large structures, including six locks and three aqueducts: two over the A29 and A26 motorways, and one 1330 metres long over the Somme. The project’s budget will be €4.7 billion, financed by the European Union, the French government, the Hauts-de-France and Île-de-France regions and the départements Oise, Somme, Pas-de-Calais and Nord.