Lifts on the old Canal du Centre, Industrial heritage site in La Louvière, Belgium.
The lifts on the old Canal du Centre are four hydraulic structures located in La Louvière and Le Rœulx in the Belgian region of Wallonia, each built to raise and lower boats across a height difference of about 17 meters (56 feet). Every lift works with two large water-filled troughs that move in opposite directions, so the weight of one counterbalances the other.
The first lift, at Houdeng-Gœgnies, opened in 1888 when the mining industry in the Borinage basin needed faster ways to move coal and heavy goods across the land. The three remaining lifts were added over the following years, and the system remained in use for heavy freight until the modern Strépy-Thieu lift replaced it in 2002.
The four lifts are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site that draws visitors who want to see working industrial history up close. Traveling through one of the chambers by boat gives a direct sense of how water pressure alone moves vessels from one level to another.
The site is generally open from April through October, when the lifts are in operation and easiest to see in action. A boat trip through the troughs offers the closest view of how the mechanism works, but walking along the canal banks also gives a clear sense of the scale.
Of the eight similar lifts ever built around the world, these four in Wallonia are the only ones still standing and working. The engineering principle behind them is so well balanced that almost no extra energy is needed to raise a loaded boat.
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