Montech water slope

It is managed by the publicly owned Voies navigables de France and by-passes a series of five locks.

An evenly sloping concrete channel is fitted with a gate at the top, around which a continuous trickle of water is allowed to flow, to compensate for any leakage.

The lower gate, which can be lifted, is mounted on a yoke between two ex-railway locomotives, which run on concrete tracks either side of the channel.

It consists of: Each diesel electric locomotive has a power of 750 kilowatts (1,000 hp) distributed to drive motors on each of the four axles, each with two large pneumatic tyres.

The Montech water slope was featured in an episode of the 2005 BBC television series Rick Stein's French Odyssey.