Ronquières inclined plane

It is in the municipality of Braine-le-Comte and takes its name from the nearby village of Ronquières.

The plane was built to reduce the delays imposed by the 14 locks (already reduced from 16 in the 19th century) that had hitherto been needed for the canal to follow the local topography.

[2] Each caisson is pulled by eight cables wound by capstans at the top end of the inclined plane.

Each caisson can be moved between the two canal levels at a speed of 1.2 metres per second (3.9 ft/s), taking about 22 minutes.

It takes 50 minutes in total to pass through the 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) of the entire structure, including the raised canal bridge at the top end.