Plan incliné de Saint-Louis/Arzviller

57820 Saint-Louis, France (Grand Est)

Wikipedia:
Saint-Louis-Arzviller inclined plane

Principle

The system works by basically lifting or lowering a caisson containing a boat on a carriage along a slope using a balancing counterweight.

According to Archimedes' principle, the barge which enters the caisson drives back towards the canal a quantity of water equivalent to the mass of the barge. Thus, the caisson always weighs the same, whether or not it contains a barge.

In principle, the system could function without an engine. Indeed, the caisson is more full at the upper level, because it stops 20 cm below the level of the canal, and less full at the lower level, since it stops 20 cm above the canal. The engines control only the speed, and require relatively low power compared to the transported weight.

Dimensions
*   Reinforced concrete slope, with steel rails, allowing a horizontal move of 108.6 metres and a level change of 44.5 metres (slope of 41% - angle of 22°);
*   steel caisson 41.5 m long, 5.5 m wide and 3.2 m deep (730 cubic metres capacity), steel carriage on 32 steel wheels, the whole weighing about 900 tonnes.[5] It travels at the speed of 0.6 m/s (2.2 km/h);
*   four lifting gates (two at the caisson and one at each level);
*   two concrete counterweights on guided carriages of 450 tonnes each. Each counterweight is fastened to the caisson by means of 14 steel cables of 27 millimetres diameter;
*   in the machine room, two winches each driven by a 90 kW electrical motor which ensures operation;
*   a power-generating unit allows the inclined plane to be used even in the event of long power cuts.

At the beginning, two caissons were planned but, with the decline of water transport, only one was built.

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