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The Canal de l'Est (French: "canal of the east") is a canal in northeastern France. It was built from 1874 to 1887 and has a total length of 394 kilometres (245 mi). It consists of two parts: a northern branch linking the Meuse River and the Moselle, and a southern branch linking the Moselle to the Saône. In 2003, these branches were officially renamed Canal de la Meuse and Canal des Vosges, respectively.
Contents
- Map of Canal de lEst France
- Northern branch Canal de la Meuse
- Southern branch Canal des Vosges
- References
Map of Canal de l'Est, France
Northern branch (Canal de la Meuse)
The northern branch of the Canal de l'Est starts at Givet in the Ardennes department. It follows the Meuse upstream, passing through Mouzon, Fumay, Revin, Nouzonville, Charleville-Mézières, Sedan, Stenay, Verdun, Saint-Mihiel and Commercy until it joins the Canal de la Marne au Rhin at Troussey. This branch of the canal is 272 kilometres (169 mi) long. For much of its length, the canal is actually the canalised river Meuse.
Southern branch (Canal des Vosges)
Originally, the southern branch of the Canal de l'Est started at Toul, where it branched off the Canal de la Marne au Rhin. Since the Moselle has been made navigable for larger ships up to Neuves-Maisons, the 27-kilometre (17 mi) part of the Canal de l'Est between Toul and Neuves-Maisons is considered part of the Moselle. The canal follows the Moselle upstream through Charmes and Thaon-les-Vosges until Golbey, north of Épinal, where it leaves the Moselle valley. It passes through Les Forges and enters the valley of the Côney near Uzemain. It follows the Côney downstream until its confluence with the Saône at Corre in the Haute-Saône department, the southern end of the Canal de l'Est. This branch of the canal is 123 kilometres (76 mi) long.