Inherited from Napoleon’s great works, the Vallée des Eclusiers is a string of 17 locks which, over a distance of 3 km, allowed barges to cross the important difference in level which separates the Saar basin from the Rhine basin.

Since 1969, the Arzviller inclined plane, a transverse boat lift, the only one of its kind in Europe, has replaced the 17-lock canal in this superb valley, which was slowly forgotten and to which the Community of Communes of the Pays de Phalsbourg now wishes to give new life.
This project to develop this old canal and its 17 lock houses, some of which are still inhabited, accompanies the route of the green bicycle path that runs alongside the site.

The route is laid out on the old towpath and from footbridges installed overhanging the canal bed. The visitor will take turns to walk through the flowery natural spaces of the valley and then enter the canal, which is occasionally reopened, to get a closer look at the lock mechanisms and to get a better feel for the landscape’s unevenness.

At the widest point of the canal, a planted aquatic mesh covers the surface of the water, which the visitor can approach from an overhanging platform.

The project includes the development of the two accesses and their parking lots, located at the eastern and western ends of the valley, in a vegetated mode ensuring the transition between the road space and the natural space of the site, exclusively for pedestrians and cyclists.