Europe2016

Photo of Ronald Reagan on Air Force One in 1983 aiming a hunting rifle out the window (per the title in the link below). Per Wikipedia, "De Balie is a theatre and a centre for politics, culture and media."

"There is a crisis induced by European leaders not understanding humanitarian law". One of multiple protest collages on the entrance to DeBalie, a culture center in the Leidseplein in Amsterdam.

This not particularly inspiring photo is of the Midi/Zuid train station in Brussels. The station is the Brussels end point for Eurostar so I had been through here on my way from London to Amsterdam, but this photo is from my hotel window when I had come back to Brussels to start off a couple of days of exploring in Belgium. The reasons for exploring Belgium will be noted with subsequent pictures, what I want to focus on here is the station itself. Coming into the station on the Eurostar, and then coming back into it on this segment of the trip, the atmosphere in the station was surprising. Nowhere else in northern Europe had I had such a sense of tension as seemed to exist here. Admittedly this tension was probably in part due to the attacks in Brussels in March, 2016, but it felt like something more endemic. What was surprising was that the social atmosphere in the station felt similar to some U.S. transit stations that are not only places for catching trains but also places of shelter for quite a few folk (mainly men) with nowhere to go, the unemployed, and many others who don’t quite have a fit in society. Combining this high number of such male non-travelers with the very strong presence of heavily armed guards created a situation that seemed to be a silent ‘dance’ between these men trying to exert (through posture and voice) their right to be there, while at the same time not drawing the attention of the guards. Having had my own experiences with police harassment when I was much younger, I found the station environment to be something that I wanted to get out of as quickly as possible.

In the background is Ronquières, a small village southwest of Brussels. I'm in Ronquières as part of a day for exploring contemporary and historic canal structures in Europe -- more about the canal structures in subsequent photos. To accomplish the touring I wanted to do in Belgium, I had to rent a car -- the silver Opel seen here.

Brussels–Charleroi Canal just before the Ronquières incline. The Charleroi canal connects Brussels to the Canal du Centre in France, which provides connection to the Belgian port of Antwerp. In this picture, the narrow canal and locks on the right are for the older version of the Brussels–Charleroi Canal that is no longer in use but provides what looks to be interesting exploration of the countryside (see #0204).

The older canal in Ronquières. From what I could find regarding the older version of the Brussels–Charleroi canal, the locks on it are no longer in use. If that's the case, these barges would now only travel a very short segment east of this point. Considering the number of barges seen here and in the satellite photo, I suspect that the lock at my side may still be in use giving access to the new canal.

What I came to see! The Ronquières incline. I had seen pictures of this on Ipernity a couple of years ago and was amazed that such canal infrastructure existed -- I don't believe there is anything comparable in the U.S. The incline (opened in 1968) consists of two very large caissons (ferries) on rails that carry boats up 222 feet in 4,698 feet (see later pictures). The incline was built to reduce the travel time required from what had been a much longer journey through 14 locks. Sources: Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronqui%C3%A8res_inclined_plane French language with good pictures: www.ronquieres.org

The access point at the lower end of the incline. One unfortunate consequence of traveling in winter was an inability to access the observations decks that are above the cables for lifting the gates.

The top of the incline and one of the caissons (ferries). It was impossible to capture the size of the structures here, though some perspective might be sensed by focusing on the fact that there is a 2 story building underneath the caisson's tracks.

The tower (150 m), at the top of the incline, from between the tracks for the caissons. In the literature that I could find, the tower is described as an observation tower. I didn't see whether that meant for public access, or if the 'observation' is to look further up the canal and judge approaching traffic.

Looking down the tracks from the upper portion of the incline. I find it confounding to think of the level of public investment in creating such a structure. In the western US, our trains still mostly cross the mountains of the west on privately-owned right-of-ways that were originally built in the late 1800’s for the much slower pace of those days and have been only marginally modernized since; the canals that we do use are seem to be comparatively simple dam/lock combinations created in the 1950’s. Unless I’ve really missed something, we don’t have nearly the investment in infrastructure that’s illustrated by the incline. A second confounding factor was the investment in barge traffic. While we do still have significant barge traffic in parts of the U.S., we don’t seem to be nearly as reliant on this form of economically and probably environmentally more favorable form of transportation. Most startling, to me, about this structure was the level of public access. Given the very high level of security we have placed around similar such structures in the U.S. and the likelihood that someone photographing as I was would be stopped by a guard, I consistently felt that someone must be about ready to stop me from wandering around the various structures of the incline – but they weren’t. I assumed that I must have been watched while exploring, but I could find nothing to indicate that was actually happening. I was amazed at the ability to freely explore around the incline. I came away from this questioning the U.S. reliance on free-market solutions, our comparatively primitive use of environmentally-beneficial technology, and our focus on security at a level that approaches paranoia.

This is the Ascenseur (lift) N°4 Ancien Canal Du Centre, one of four historic lifts on the Canal Du Centre that have been replaced by the very modern boat lift of Strépy-Thieu (later pictures). Of the four lift locks, the three that I visited were all opened in 1917 (during WWI). The one I did not visit is similar in design, opened in 1888, and was the inspiration for similar lifts in Ontario, Canada (see Wikipedia link). Though the lifts are no longer used for commercial traffic, they are still used for recreational traffic. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boat_Lifts_on_the_Canal_du_Centre

The historic lift structure at lift #4 Youtube of traversing the locks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0PWwuZHUeo

Sign with a detailed description (in French) of how the lift structures worked. I'd love to have an understanding of the hydraulics of all of this, but haven't been able to copy the text into a translater....

Lifting the canal over the roadway.

Inside the historic lift structure at lift #4

From the higher side of the lift. Lifts number 3 and 2 are much further up the canal behind me, more detail on those in later pictures.

Taken from the walkway to the higher portion of the old Canal du Centre, looking over the newer portion of it and the village of Thieu.