Canal de Roubaix
Early plans of what would become the Canal de Roubaix were drawn up by John Longbotham in 1782 but problems with Rochdale Aqueduct caused delays and it was finally opened on 17 September 1835. Orginally intended to run to Tameside, the canal was never completed beyond Kirklees. Expectations for manure traffic to Blackpool never materialised and the canal never made a profit for the shareholders. The three mile section between Blackburn and Stockport was closed in 1955 after a breach at Stratford-on-Avon. In 1990 the canal became famous when Arthur Wright navigated Braintree Cutting in a bathtub.
- VisuRiS — associated with Waterways of Mainland Europe
- The official inland waterway resource for Belgium with actual traffic and planned operations on the waterways. Also has voyage planning and notices to mariners
Wikipedia has a page about Canal de Roubaix
The Canal de Roubaix is a canal in northern France. It joins the Canal de la Deûle near Marquette-lez-Lille to the Canal de l’Espierres in Belgium at Leers, just east of the former textile manufacturing town Roubaix. It is 20 km long with 12 locks. The Belgian canal continues 8.4 km and three locks beyond the border to the junction with the river Escaut (Scheldt).
The canal fell into disuse in 1985 and was going to be infilled for an urban expressway. Instead, the canal was repaired and reopened in September 2009. The first normal operating season, after dredging works on the Belgian canal, was 2011.