The Canal de Briare is one of the oldest canals in France.

Construction

It was ordered by Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully, in order to develop the trade of grain, and to reduce the food shortages. Its construction started in 1604 and was completed in 1642. Between six and twelve thousand workmen worked on this canal which connects the basins of the River Loire and the River Seine. Hugues Cosnier obtained the contract to build the first canal crossing a watershed. It was thus necessary to use locks, invented (but never built) by Leonardo da Vinci. A flight of locks was built in Rogny: it has seven successive locks. Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully (December 13, 1560 – December 22, 1641) was the doughty soldier, French minister, staunch Protestant and faithful right-hand man who enabled Henry IV of France to accomplish so much. ... Events January 14 – Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 - Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. ... Events January 4 - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape. ... The Loire River, the longest river in France with a length of just over 1000 km, drains an area of 117,000 km², more than a fifth of France. ... This article is about the river in France; it should not be confused with the Senne, a much smaller river that flows through Brussels. ... Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian Renaissance architect, musician, anatomist, inventor, engineer, sculptor, geometer, and painter. ...

But the king Henri IV, withdrew his support for work. Hugues Cosnier had to give up work in 1611. In 1638, Guillaume Boutheroue and Jacques Guyon proposed to resume work, and receive from Louis XIII the letters patent with this intention. They created with other nobles "Compagnie des seigneurs du canal de Loyre en Seine". Work was completed the following year. Being a junction canal (between two different basins), it was not only necessary to build locks, but also to design a particular level, on the watershed. Indeed, for each passage of boat, one needed to use the locks displacing approximately 2000 cubic meters of water. Ponds were therefore dug. They include the ponds of Turfs, Chesnoy, Grand-rû, Tilery, Du Chateau, Cahauderie, Beaurois, the Bourdon reservoir, and the Moutiers reservoir on the Loing. By Frans Pourbus the younger. ... Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 - May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ...

Modifications

The canal was repurchased by the State in 1860. 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...

In 1894 and 1895, an elevatory factory was built in order to bring water to the canal, from the summit pond, to mitigate the insufficiencies of the ponds which fed the canal during periods of drought. To allow the passage of this canal the Canal Latéral à la Loire (built in the years 1820 and 1830), a tubular bridge was built on the Loire and Briare, of 1890 to 1896, by engineer Abel Mazoyer. The Tubular bridge of Briare is built on fourteen piles. On these piles is placed a single metal beam which supports a u-shaped basin which contains more than 13,000 tons of water (2.2 meters of depth). The width of the bridge, tow paths included, is 11.5 meters; and it is 662.7 meters in length. Eight valves make it possible to empty the tubular bridge in the event of severe freezing. 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...