Читать книгу The Loire Cycle Route. From the source in the Massif Central to the Atlantic coast онлайн

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Shipping on the river

The Loire is only properly navigable below its junction with the Maine near Angers (Stage 22). Above here the river is classed as sauvage: a wild river with shifting sandbanks, rapids at high water-flow and shallows when the flow is low with no locks or cuts to avoid them. In the past, before railways and roads provided a viable alternative, barges floating downstream took merchandise (mostly coal from St Étienne coalfield) from St Rambert (Stage 5). As river conditions prevented any up-stream navigation, these were one-way trips with the barges being broken up at the end of the voyage. Bi-directional trade was possible up to Roanne (Stage 6) only when river conditions were favourable, but became possible year-round when canals that ran parallel with the river opened at the beginning of the 19th century. Small pleasure craft can still reach Roanne by a mixture of canal and river, but the Villerest dam (built 1984) prevents them going any further. There is no commercial shipping on the river nowadays, although enthusiasts have restored many old wooden Loire barges, some of which are used for commercial fishing, but most for leisure pursuits.