ECLUSE "MÉNIL"

Ménil lock

To the north of the village of Ménil, boats had to cross 2 dams, the Roche-de-Ménil and the Gué, which in the 16th century were equipped with marine gates to facilitate the passage of boats. The lock is designed to allow boats to pass from one level of the river to another. It consists of an SAS, closed upstream and downstream by a gate, called a "vantail". When you look at how a lock works, you see an engineering marvel that uses water, gravity, human muscle power and a basic system of levers and cogs to allow boats to move up or down to another water level. Between the wars, this system was improved with the installation of racks and, since the 1990s, electric controls.