Made it to Briare and the Pont Canal about 3 pm yesterday and hopped on a boat with 100 school children for a trip across the Loire over the Pont Canal. It is a steel bridge built late 19th cebtury repuedly bu Gustav Eiffel. The desing and build was by another engineer,Mazoyen and Eiffel's company only built the steel uprights. The are lots of Pont Canals in France...though Ive only seen this one. This is the largest and was unusual in its time for having electric lights. Originally there was some set up whereby the barges were dragged across the Loire by cables but with larger boats this was a better option. The the aristocracy formed a cartel to charge passage. The aristocracy were right into taxing . Now its just used for the tourist canal boats. The max speed is 6km/hr so its going to be a slow trip in August.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Briare
Made it to Briare and the Pont Canal about 3 pm yesterday and hopped on a boat with 100 school children for a trip across the Loire over the Pont Canal. It is a steel bridge built late 19th cebtury repuedly bu Gustav Eiffel. The desing and build was by another engineer,Mazoyen and Eiffel's company only built the steel uprights. The are lots of Pont Canals in France...though Ive only seen this one. This is the largest and was unusual in its time for having electric lights. Originally there was some set up whereby the barges were dragged across the Loire by cables but with larger boats this was a better option. The the aristocracy formed a cartel to charge passage. The aristocracy were right into taxing . Now its just used for the tourist canal boats. The max speed is 6km/hr so its going to be a slow trip in August.
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