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Péniche on the Saint-Denis Canal

The Freycinet gauge (French: gabarit Freycinet) is a standard governing the dimensions of the locks of some canals, put in place as a result of a law passed during the tenure of Charles de Freycinet as prime minister of France, dating from 5 August 1879. The law required the size of lock chambers to be increased to a length of 39 m, a width 5.2 m and a minimum water depth of 2.2 m, allowing 300 to 350 tonne barges to pass through.^[1] Consequently boats and barges such as the péniche built to the Freycinet gauge could not exceed 38.5 m in length, 5.05 m in breadth and a draught of 1.8 m. Bridges and other structures built across the canals are required to provide 3.7 m of clearance.^[2] In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries many French canals were modernised to conform to the Freycinet standard.

The Freycinet gauge corresponds to the European class I gauge. In France 5,800 km (3,604 mi) of navigable waterways corresponded to the Freycinet gauge in 2001 accounting for 23% of water borne traffic.

European Classification

References

1. ^ "Freycinet Gauge". http://www.nievre.equipement.gouv.fr/Voies_navigables/patrimoine/page_Briare3.htm#Freycinet.  
2. ^ ^{a b} Charles Hadfield. World Canals.  

External links

• The French article from which this article was translated