Canal lateral a la Loire (Route Bourbonnais)
Information about the 196km Canal lateral a la Loire (completed 1838) from Briare to Digoin. The canal is relatively level, with 38 locks (ecluses) along its length.
See also general notes (foot of page).
Basic Information
Approximate minimum depth 1.80m, headroom 3.5m, width 5m. These are the 'book' values and may vary according to conditions. Navigating the canal should not present insurmountable difficulties to normal pleasure craft and the Bourbonnais (Seine-Loing-Briare-Loire-Centre canals) it is one of the recommended routes from the Channel to the Mediterranean. It is usually reliably and well supplied with water. This may alter during and after long hot summers - the route is then not as dependable as the eastern (Champagne) route.
- Speed limit 8kph. Reckon on 3-4kph overall for a day's travel including ecluses, or count ecluses and times by half-an-hour each.
- Some locks fill right 'to the brim' and beyond and this means you must have protection down at the waterline and into the water. Fenders must 'paddle' and/or use fender boards to keep from floating up and/or use tyres. See Protection.
- Check your engine cooling water filter frequently - weed, leaves and boué in the water and on the bed can get stirred up as you pass and especially as you go up or down in the lock. See Clogged.
- VNF sub-division contact telephone numbers: 02 38 31 26 20 (Briare), 03 86 77 39 40 (Decize).
PK199 Briare Aqueduct (1896)
A great feature of the French Waterways, the aqueduct was designed by the canal engineer Abel Mazoyer and the fourteen masony supports were constructed by the Eiffel company. The paired obelisks at each end reflect the same feature on the Pont Alexandre on the Seine in Paris and the aqueduct is lit by a chain of Art Nouveau style lamp standards. It followed the introduction of the nationwide Freycinet gauge for canal peniches and replaced a crossing over the River Loire that was susceptible to flooding, currents and droughts. Until recently it was the longest canal aqueduct in the world. The short by-passed canal sections on either side of the river are still navigable, however there are significant draft and headroom restrictions, particularly on the southern/western branch. For details of the ports de plaisance at Briare, see Canal de Briare page.
PK192 Chatillon-sur-Loire
PdP 02 38 31 08 37 - water, electricity and services
PK184 Beaulieu
Halte - water and electricity 02 38 35 80 48
PK179 Belleville sur Loire
PdP 02 48 78 20 50 water, electr and services. Possibly non-standard electr/water fittings.
PK175 Lere
Halte - water and electricity 02 48 72 54 32 - a good small silo moooring
Bannay
A very pleasant canal section.
PK159 St Thibault - Saint-Satur
PdP - water and electricity 02 48 54 14 17. Moorings in a side branch down to the River Loire
PK157 Menetreol-sous-Sancerre
Halte - water, electricity and services
PK153 Pouilly - Halte (bankside)
PK149 St Bouize - Halte (bankside)
PK143 Herry
Halte 02 48 79 54 24 - water only, quiet
PK137 La Chapelle-Montlinard
Former boatyard with dry dock - but may have closed.
Halte 02 48 79 54 40 water+electricity. Reports are not positive.
Possible excursion to La Charite-sur-Loire with a Cluniac monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site on the pilgrim's route to Santiago de Compestela in northern Spain.
PK129 Beffes - pleasant bankside mooring.
PK126 Marseilles-les-Aubigny
PdP 02 48 76 44 99 - water, electricity and services in a large quiet basin. Quayside mooring and pontoons.
Nigel Orr (www.canaux.info) has now moved from PK122 "Waterman's" to 5 Quai Auguste Mahaut at Marseilles-les-Aubigny [02 48 76 16 07] but his hospitable invitation to visiting boaters still applies in the new location.
[PK122 "Waterman's" - see above]
PK121 Canal de Berry Junction
Constructed in 1840 and at its height 141km long, because of water limitations the canal and its ecluses were made narrow-gauge (on the British model) and was then never upgraded to the Freycinet standard. It closed in 1954 but sections have been restored.
PK120 Cours-les-Barres
Halte 02 48 76 49 86 water and electricity
Near PK109 - Ecluse des Lorraines
This noteworthy but now disused circular lock enabled peniches coming from the Loire canal (via the side branch seen 'head on' in the above photograph) having entered the ecluse, to be lowered to river level, rotated so as to exit onto the river and do so at two alternative points, above or below a barrage. Or vice-versa.
Le Guetin pont canal
PK107 Plagny
Halte. Water may require a non-standard fitting.
PK104 Nevers
PdP 03 86 37 54 79 or 06 74 54 81 77 - Along a 3km side branch (formerly led down to the river). Good moorings and possible over-wintering.
PK81 Fleury-sur-Loire
Halte - quai, water and electricity
PK68 Decize (Saint-Maurice)
PdP (water, electricity, etc.) in a basin off the canal, through lock. Intermarche supermarket close-by with fuel.
Then through a second lock onto the Loire and across the Loire to the Canal du Nivernais
PK52 Gannay
Halte 04 70 43 48 11- water, electricity, services, in a little bassin.
PK40 Garnat-sur-Engievre
Halte 04 70 42 73 26
PK38 Beaulon
PdP 06 77 13 47 76 - water, electricity, services.
PK29 Dompierre-sur-Besbre
PdP with water, electricity and services, managed by the Locaboat hire base 04 70 48 27 27 and reached along a spur canal
PK26 Diou
Halte, water only
PK19 Pierrefitte-sur-Loire
Halte, water only
PK18 Junction of the Canal de Roanne a Digoin
56km and with 10 locks - a good PdP at the end (incl. for overwintering)
Some reports that the Loire canal is shallow in this vicinity.
PK10 Coulanges
(photo: www.letabatha.net)
PK8 Molinet
Halte, possibly not electricity. Pont canal
PK0 Digoin
See Canal du Centre page.
Notes
The information about the Bourbonnais Route canals has been gleaned from many different sources, including personal accounts of travels, moorings, etc. but not (yet) from our own personal experience. Accordingly, Grehan very much welcomes your comments, corrections, suggestions and additions.
PK = Kilometre distance mark, as printed in waterway guides and found as actual signposts (occasionally) on the waterways.
PdP = Port de Plaisance (inland pleasure port/marina/mooring). Halte (nautique) = mooring place/pontoon. Ecluse (Sas in Normandy - 'sas' means 'chamber') = lock. Peniche = barge.
TE (tirant d'eau) = Depth. Check actual depths! The 'book' canal depth is in the channel centre, edges will be less and you may have a problem coming alongside so be careful. Tuck your nose in first and if necessary keep the stern (where the vulnerable prop is) poking out. There is often a shallow bar just outside the lower gate of an ecluse.
VNF SINGLE NUMBER - The VNF have introduced a nationwide single telephone point of access for making lock arrangements, etc and notify breakdowns and other emergencies - 0800 863 000 - you will almost certainly need to understand and speak a certain amount of French.
Contact Grehan >top of page<This is an information guide - it is not a substitute for a waterways pilot book, nor is it meant to be. We strongly recommend obtaining a pilot book for each river or canal you travel. The information here results from direct personal experience cruising the waterways from north to south and east to west; and/or has also been gleaned from a number of sources and accounts. Photographs by Grehan; some other photographs by permission, or in the public domain; if we have inadvertently breached any copyrights, please contact us. Grehan's own photographs may be available for re-use, please contact us for permission.
