Halte Nautique in Reims closed, and other changes

The page Nos Chantiers 2024 on VNF now shows the Aisne à la Marne canal closed at locks 9 - Madeleine-Courcy and lock 10 - Flechambault - from August 26th to September 1st.  Those are the locks on either side of the bridge they are taking down.  

It is difficult to find the right way to access the Chantiers 2024 section on the VNF site (they have stopped calling them chomages, probably because it translates so poorly into English) but once you find it the interactivity has increased.  You can no fill in a particular waterway and a specific date range and find out if there are any notices of works going on there in that time period.   Clearly it is being updated also, because this closing was not on the original list back from January.  

Thank you Sharon, any further information will be much appreciated.

Tim.

Sharon, will you be posting this and the Sillery information on WOBs? Thanks!

Judy Evans
MV Mon Amie

An official of the Office du Tourisme of Reims has told me that the Halte Nautique in Reims will not be open this year.  This is becuause there will be extensive work "enhancing the borders of the canal" in central Reims.  This work will include removing the Charles de Gaulle bridge, which crosses the canal right next to the Halte Nautique.
 
Work will begin May 2 on the current roadway, Blvd Paul Doumer, which runs alongside the canal on the cathedral side from Rue Liebergier to the next bridge to the south.  The first stage will be to destroy the current center median and then recenter the 4 lanes of roadway to increase the depth of the canal side right of way.  Beginning May 27 the Dde Gaulle bridge will be closed  permanently. The bridge will be dismantled. The Blvd Paul Doumer will be completely closed from July 29 to August 2.  The auto route (the main north south 4 lane restricted access road) will be closed August 3 and 4.  

The newspaper article says the canal will be closed the end of August but I have not yet seen any announcement of that from VNF.  I am going to write the territorial director and see if I can get some information.  Currently the southern end of the Aisne à la Marne is scheduled to be closed from August 26 to late in September for annual chomage.  If the canal is also closed in Reims it will become ver  difficult to access Sillery as a winter mooring.  If I can find out more I will report.