World Heritage Photos

The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut): On a short stretch of the Canal du Centre, the water level rises 66.2 meters. To overcome this difference, eight hydraulic boat lifts on the Canal du Centre were built between 1888 and 1917. Today, only four of the original eight boat lifts remain. The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre are the only ones in the world which still exist in working condition. Boat Lift no. 1 at Houdeng-Goegnies is the oldest of the four lifts on the Canal du Centre and was built in 1888. The Canal du Centre played an important role in the transportation of coal from the nearby coal mines. Since 2002, the operation of the lifts has been limited to recreational use. It is possible to pay a visit to an engine room of one of the Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and to make a boat trip on the canal. The Four Boat Lifts on the Canal du Centre are located about 50 km from Brussels and about 60 km from Tournai in Belgium. The boat lifts were designed by the English civil engineer Edwin Clark. His major achievement was the Anderton Boat Lift near the town of Northwich in Cheshire, England. Edwin Clark designed boat lifts and bridges in other countries in Europe, he also designed the first bridge, a swing bridge, over the river IJssel at the village of Westervoort in the Netherlands, nowadays replaced with a modern bridge. The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut) gained the status as a UNESCO World Heritage in 1998.

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   The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre: Boat lift no. 3 and the red brick engine house close to the small village of Strépy-Bracquegnies, the boat lifts on the Canal du Centre are the only hydraulic boat lifts in the world which still exist in working condition. The boat lifts on the Canal du Centre are major industrial monuments. The Four Boat Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut) were declared a UNESCO World Heritage in 1998.

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   The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre: Lift no. 1 at Houdeng-Goegnies. On a short stretch of the Canal du Centre, the water level rises 66.2 meters. To overcome this difference 8 hydraulic boat lifts on the Canal du Centre were built between 1888 and 1917. Today, only four boat lifts on the Canal du Centre remain. The remaing Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre are the only ones in the world which still exist in working condition.

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   The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut): Boat lift no. 1 at Houdeng-Goegnies was built in 1888. The lift at Houdeng-Goegnies is the oldest of the four lifts on the Canal du Centre. It is possible to embark at Houdeng-Goegnies and enjoy a pleasure boat trip on the Canal du Centre. The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre are important industrial monuments and a tourist attraction.

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   The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre: Lift 1 at Houdeng-Goegnies. The boat lifts were designed by the English civil engineer Edwin Clark, a specialised in hydraulics, who also designed boat lifts and bridges in several other countries in Europe. His major achievement was the Anderton Boat Lift near Northwich in Cheshire, England. He also designed the first bridge over the river IJssel at the village Westervoort in the Netherlands, now replaced by a modern bridge.

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   The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut): Boat lift no. 1 at the village of Houdeng-Goegnies is the oldest of the four boat lifts on the Canal du Centre. The Canal du Centre, together with the Charleroi-Brussels Canal and Bergen-Condé Canal, connects the Meuse and Scheldt rivers, the main waterways in Belgium.

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   The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre in Belgium: The hydraulic boat lift 2 at Houdeng-Aimeries. Since 2002, operation of the boat lifts has been limited to recreational use. The four boat lifts on the Canal du Centre are located about 50 km south of Brussels in Belgium. The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

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   The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut): The engine house at the village of Strépy-Bracquegnies. The Canal du Centre was connected to the industrial centres of the region, such as the major mining sites of Wallonia in Belgium. The Canal du Centre connected the great waterways in Belgium and was used to transport the raw materials to the harbour of Antwerp.

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   The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre: Lift no. 2 at Houdeng-Aimeries. The boat lifts are double, consisting of two mobile caissons, each supported in the centre by an iron column. The two iron columns are hydraulically linked in such a way that one caisson rises as the other descends. The weight of one caisson is counterbalancing the other one. Each caisson can hold a boat.

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   The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre: Boat lift no. 3 near the village of Strépy-Bracquegnies was built thirteen years after the first boat lift at Houdeng-Goegnies. The four boat lifts are situated along a seven kilometres stretch of the Canal du Centre, a paved towpath runs along one side of the canal, the path offers amazing views over the canal and the four boat lifts.

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    Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre: Boat lift no. 3 at village of Strépy-Bracquegnies. In the 1960s, the Canal du Centre was modernised. The plan of the  govornment was to demolish the historic boat lifts, but local people fought to maintain the four boat lifts on the Canal du Centre and won the long battle. The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre are classified as Wallonia's Major Heritage and gained the status as a UNESCO World Heritage in 1998.

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    The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre: The engine room of boat lifts no. 2 and no. 3. The engine house is situated near boat lift no. 3 at Strépy-Bracquegnies in the Belgian province of Hainaut, the engine room powers the boat lifts no. 2 and no. 3 and houses ingenious mechanisms which power the boat lifts using no other energy than water. The engine house is not always open to visitors, it is only open a few days a month.

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    The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut): Lift no. 3 on the Canal du Centre and the engine house naer Strépy-Bracquegnies. The Bois-du-Luc was a coal mine in Houdeng-Aimeries, close to the town of La Louvière, it is one of the four Walloon mining sites listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage, the former mine is now a museum. The Canal du Centre played an important role in the transportation of coal.

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    The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre in Belgium: The historic boat lift no. 4 at Thieu. The only hydraulic boat lifts in the world which still exist in working condition are the Four Boat Lifts on the Canal du Centre. The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut) were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

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    The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre: The historic boat lift no. 4 at Thieu. The modern boat lift at the village of Strépy-Thieu, one of the largest modern boat lifts in the world, is situated close to the historic boat lift no. 4 at Thieu. The modern lift was built to replace the four historic boat lifts, the construction of the modern boat lift lasted twenty years, it started operation in 2002.

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    The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre: The historic boat lift no. 4 at Thieu. Today, the modern boat lift of Strépy-Thieu on a branch of the Canal du Centre replaces the four historic boat lifts, the construction of the modern boat lift of Strépy-Thieu started in 1982, the huge boat lift was completed in 2002.