Ronquieres Inclined Plane

The inclined plane at Ronquieres opened in 1968 on the Brussels to Charleroi canal and solves a sixty-eight-metre climb in a way that is not a lift and not a lock: two enormous caissons filled with water, each running on rails on a slope 1,432 metres long, carry boats up and down the hill, hauled by cables, with the vessels floating in the tank throughout. Each caisson weighs around five thousand tonnes loaded. A tower at the top, 150 metres high, contains the winding machinery and has a viewing platform and an exhibition on the structure, reached by lift. It replaced fourteen locks and cut a day off the journey. The scale is best appreciated from the top, looking down the whole length of the slope.

What you actually see

• A 1,432-metre inclined plane - caissons running up a slope on rails.
• Five-thousand-tonne caissons - the tanks carrying boats and water.
• The 150-metre tower - machinery, exhibition and a viewing platform.
• The view down the slope - the whole length seen from the top.

When to go

April to October; the tower and exhibition close for the winter. Two hours. Boat movements are not scheduled for visitors, so seeing a caisson working is a matter of luck. Weekends are busier.

Honest expectations

Watching a caisson actually move depends on canal traffic and many visitors see nothing happen. The tower and exhibition are dated. Interpretation is in French. The site is functional and there is nothing else nearby.

Nearby

Strepy-Thieu is south; Nivelles lies north-east.