Ecluse de Rechicourt, Navigation lock in Réchicourt-le-Château, France.

The Écluse de Réchicourt-le-Château is a lock on the Marne-Rhine Canal built in 1965, with a fall of 15.45 to 16.10 m depending on the water level, the greatest drop of any French lock on a Freycinet-gauge canal. Its chamber is 40 m long, 6 m wide and at least 2.6 m deep, about 3,768 m³. A lifting gate closes the downstream end, two 2 m arched gates the upstream end, all moved by hydraulic cylinders from a control cabin.

This lock was built in 1965 as part of a modernization campaign for the Marne-Rhine Canal, replacing several older installations. The work was necessary to adapt the waterway to contemporary transportation demands.

The lock's name comes from the village of Réchicourt-le-Château, and its 1965 commissioning changed how boat crews experienced the canal: a passage that once took six hours through six successive locks now takes about thirty minutes. The single deep chamber, closed downstream by a lifting gate and upstream by two pointed gates, is what visitors come to watch.

The lock lies on the Marne-Rhine Canal at Réchicourt-le-Château. The chamber is 40 m long, 6 m wide and at least 2.6 m deep, so a Freycinet-gauge boat fits with little margin. Passage takes about 30 minutes, against six hours for the six older locks it replaced. Look for the control cabin from which the gates and valves are worked by hydraulic rams.

The lock replaces six older locks, cutting a boat's passage from six hours to thirty minutes. Its fall of 15.45 to 16.10 m is the greatest of any French lock on a Freycinet-gauge canal. The chamber holds about 3,768 m3 of water, 40 m long, 6 m wide and at least 2.6 m deep.